Wincanton PLC (LSE:WIN) achieved a 9.2% rise in revenue in the first six months as it continued to win new business in a challenging macroeconomic environment.
The supply chain solutions group reiterated that revenue and profit for the 2023 financial year are expected to meet market forecasts.
Revenue grew across all sectors, totalling £753.6mln in the half-year to 30 September 2022, compared with 690.3mln in the same period last year, the company said in its earnings release.
The acquisition of Cygnia drove a 19.1% increase in eFulfilment sector revenue, while new business from customers such as Primark and DEFRA led to growth of 14.6% and 5.2% in the General Merchandise and Public & Industrial sectors, respectively.
The company’s Grocery & Consumer sector saw revenue growth of 3.2%.
Underlying EBITDA jumped 13% to of £57.4mln in the first half.
But underlying pre-tax profit rose by just 2.6% to £28.0mln, while the underlying profit margin fell to 3.7% from 4.0%, with performance impacted by volume reductions in the two-person home delivery, retail transport and construction transport markets.
However, Wincanton said its diverse customer portfolio and new business wins “have provided protection against these commercial headwinds”.
It "successfully" managed inflationary pressures by passing on costs to customers in open book contracts.
Commenting on the results, chief executive officer James Wroath said: “We continued to win new business and made further progress against our growth strategy.
“Our exceptional customer service and track record for delivery are the foundations of our business. We are reinforcing this with sustained investment into automation and robotic solutions to meet the growing demand for these technologies, and they are delivering tangible results for our customers.”
Looking ahead, Wincanton acknowledged the uncertain macro-economic climate and said it will continue to work closely with customers to manage inflationary pressures and labour market challenges.
The company raised its interim dividend by 10% to 4.4p per share.
Net debt stood at £2.2mln at end-September, down from £16.4mln a year earlier.