Eddie Stobart swings to profit after £158m of new contracts secured

The transport and logistics group’s unaudited revenues increased by 25% over the period to £359.3m, leading to a profit after tax of £1.4m, versus the loss of £6.3m incurred over the same period last year, and the board remaining confident of delivering full-year results in line with market expectations.

Net debt increased by 17% compared to the same period last year, climbing to £114.2m, while cash and cash equivalents were down 68% to £5.7m.

Alex Laffey, chief executive of Eddie Stobart, said: "We are pleased to have delivered a strong first-half performance as we continue to implement our strategy of becoming a leading provider of end-to-end supply chain solutions. This has been demonstrated year to date, as we have won new contracts with blue chip customers adding an annualised £158m of new business."

In addition to the £158m of new contracts, Eddie Stobart has renewed approximately £113m of existing contracts and regained its full contract with Britvic, the loss of which caused a 6% decline in the consumer sector.

The E-commerce sector was the big mover, increasing 118% to £80.3m due to a 6 month period of results from logisitcs supply chain management subsidiary iForce as opposed to a single month in the same period last year.

Laffey also said the AIM traded company’s recent acquisition of The Pallet Network for a consideration of £52.8m has added to the range of services that it can provide to customers across its supply chain.

"As previously indicated in our January trading update, our performance, as in previous years, will be weighted towards the second half of the year with the first half absorbing the costs of implementing new contract wins and the second half experiencing the benefits of these new contracts," said Laffey.

Eddie Stobart’s shares were down 0.37% at 134.50p at 1135 BST.