UK contract logistics and transport company Wincanton reported a 9.4% y-o-y improvement in operating profit to £70.8m on revenues of £1,462m, in the financial year ended 31 March, 2023.
Wincanton offset the general softening in the e-Fulfilment vertical with two large contract wins, resulting in a 13.8% growth in revenues to £254.1m. It won a new business contract with luxury clothing, homewares and gifts retailer The White Company, a five-year contract covering multi-channel fulfilment and transport. At the same time, the contract logistics company extended its relationship with DIY and building trades retailer Wickes, where it now handles 100% of the retailer’s kitchen and bathroom fulfilment, up from 50% prior to the deal.
At the same time, Wincanton also reported a 3.5% uplift in revenues for its General Merchandise vertical to £410.2m. Again in the midst of generally falling volumes due to waning consumer demand, it won new business with fast fashion retailer Primark and toy manufacturers MGA Entertainment.
As of 2023, Wincanton will manage the whole of grocery and homewares retailers’ Sainsbury’s and Argos’ transport network for the next five years. It has recently announced a deal where it manages homewares retail giant IKEA’s 453,000 sq ft London distribution warehouse in Dartford, Kent. This news shows confidence in the Grocery and Consumer vertical, despite this seeing a 1% revenue drop to £512.6m in the last financial year.
Consumer confidence has been impacted by macroeconomic factors and until this returns, such verticals will not see great growth. CEO of Wincanton James Wroath said he was thankful to his employees who, “Have delivered excellent performance in a difficult economy. Their determination and innovation will continue to be essential, as we expect volumes to remain under pressure into FY24 due to the macro-economic environment.”
Not directly affected by consumer confidence but with revenues flat y-o-y at £285.2m was the Public and Industrial vertical, where the logistics company says construction companies are bringing their transport in-house.
All four verticals are seeing investment in automation at Wincanton-managed warehouses. In 2023 it installed 48 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) at its Cygnia facility in Northampton, East Midlands. At the same time the company is looking into truck loading robots to further improve efficiencies in the fulfilment system. The CEO commented, “We continue to invest in technology as the route to deliver competitive advantage in the industry. Significant opportunities remain for warehouse automation across our Group, both in the foundation sectors and strategic growth markets.”
Source: Wincanton
Author: Richard Shrubb
