Clipper Logistics’ revenue rises 15% to £460m

Shares of Leeds-based retail logistics firm Clipper Logistics plc rose 3% on Friday after it said its revenue increased 15% to £460.2 million in the year to April 30.

However, Clipper Logistics’ profit after tax slipped to £13.4 million from £14.3 million.

Nonetheless, the firm said its dividend per share will increase 15.5% to 9.7p.

Clipper Logistics said contracts entered into the latter part of the year to April 30 “fall to be accounted for as a business combination in FY20 and will enhance FY20 earnings by £3.0m.”

The firm said it enjoyed significant growth in activity with many of its customers including Asda, Browns, Morrisons, Halfords, New Look, Wilko and ASOS in the UK.

It gained new contracts with others including boohoo.com subsidiary PrettyLittleThing, Ginger Ray, Levi Strauss, Vestel, the Mountain Warehouse brand Neon Sheep, Tech Data and Sports Direct in the UK, and Mountain Warehouse in Poland.

Clipper Logistics executive chairman Steve Parkin said: “The financial year ended 30 April 2019 has seen a continuation of our long-standing track record of achieving significant organic revenue growth, complemented by the benefit of strategic, value enhancing acquisitions made in previous years.

“The group continues to focus on developing innovative, cost-effective solutions that address the needs of our blue-chip client base, predominantly in the retail sector.

“We continue to invest in quality people to implement sector leading projects, and this, together with our ability to identify key trends and developments in the sectors we serve, means that we are confident in our ability to continue this momentum.

“We are conscious of the challenging market conditions facing UK retailers and the macroeconomic  uncertainty within the UK economy; this may well have some impact in the year ahead, but we remain confident in our ability to continue the momentum in the business and are well-positioned to continue to deliver strong returns to our shareholders.”