Trading and profits rise at Shanks
BRITISH waste management company Shanks yesterday posted a better-than-expected six per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profit, and said it had seen an improvement in the market for its services in recent months.
The company, which makes around half its sales in the Netherlands and recently won a contract with Unilever to recycle its waste there, said it was confident that good growth could be achieved in the current financial year.
Overall trading was expected to be in line with its expectations, it said yesterday.
“While market conditions remain challenging, our trading in the final quarter and early into the new financial year gives us encouragement that the market for our services is improving,” the company said in a statement.
Shanks said it had faced the most challenging conditions in many years during the last 12 months.
In the year to the end of March, group revenue rose five per cent to £717m and underlying profit before tax grew six per cent, or 10 per cent at constant currency rates, to £35.2m, boosted by cost cuts.
The company raised its dividend by eight per cent to 3.25p a share.