Wincanton (WIN) chief executive Adrian Coleman thinks the overhaul of the transport division is now "largely complete". In 2017, the company revealed weaker trading at that division, as well as the steps being taken to rectify this, including cost savings and changes to capacity. The division has made progress: operating profit rose 9.4 per cent to £11.6m over the six-month period under review, thanks to a 90 basis point widening in the margin from 4.3 per cent to 5.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, sales growth of 7.1 per cent in the retail and consumer business was driven by new contract wins and volume growth within existing contracts, such as Ikea, Wilko, and Screwfix. Sales from these retail general merchandise deals rose by nearly a quarter, helping offset declines in grocery and consumer products.
Interestingly, Brexit could present an opportunity for Wincanton. Mr Coleman said the company has received enquires about warehousing from groups wanting to stockpile goods in case of restricted movement across the English Channel. Apart from that, Wincanton shouldn't be badly affected, due to its lack of cross-border work.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profits of £48.1m during the year to March 2019, giving EPS of 31.6p, compared with £46.4m and 30.3p in FY2018.
| WINCANTON (WIN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 230p | MARKET VALUE: | £286m | |
| TOUCH: | 225-232p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 285p | LOW: 190p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.5% | PE RATIO: | 7 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | £24.2m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 581 | 20.3 | 13.7 | 3.27 |
| 2018 | 582 | 30.1 | 21.3 | 3.60 |
| % change | - | +48 | +55 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 6 Dec | |||
| Payment: | 11 Jan | |||
| *Negative shareholders' funds, including intangible assets of £82.6m, or 66p a share | ||||
