Growing profits at its trucking business has not been easy for Stobart (STOB), so the haulier’s other ventures were supposed to take up the slack. Unfortunately, they’ve had problems too, which explains why this year’s profit will be lower than expected.
Despite an expensive restructuring, Stobart’s chilled goods business has performed so badly it’s being shut down and management is making savings elsewhere to keep the transport division on track. It cost more than planned getting Southend Airport up and running too, although demand has exceeded expectations – over 600,000 passengers have used it since April. Biomass work has also picked up now that government policy issues are mostly resolved. Shifting Stobart’s property portfolio, however, is proving hard work and is the main reason why Investec Securities has just cut its profit forecast for this year by 18 per cent.
