Leeds-based retail logistics firm Clipper Logistics plc said on Wednesday its revenue increased 39.1% to £696.2 million in the year ended April 30, 2021, and that “acquisitions will help drive further shareholder value in future years.”

Clipper said profit “before tax and amortisation and exceptional costs” rose 31.5% to £28.8 million.

Clipper is recommending a final dividend of 7.1p per share, making a total dividend per share of 11.1p for the full year, an increase of 14.4%.

In its outlook, Clipper said it is rapidly growing its operations in mainland Europe.

“The structural shift to online during the pandemic with continuing momentum in e-fulfilment post pandemic together with strategically aligned acquisitions will help drive further shareholder value in future years,” said the Leeds firm.

“The group has made a strong start to the new financial year and is trading in line with its recently upgraded guidance for FY22.

“The group’s pipeline of new opportunities remains buoyant and further momentum with new contract wins is expected during the year.”

Steve Parkin, Executive Chairman of Clipper commented: “I am pleased to report a very strong set of results, which in a very fluid environment demonstrates the ability and agility of the group and the robustness of our business model to capitalise upon opportunities and deliver growth.

“We have grown revenue by £195.5 million to £696.2 million and we have also grown Underlying EBIT by a much larger 52.4% to £31.4 million.

“The market has witnessed significant recent change particularly with the acceleration of the growth in e-fulfilment which now represents 70% of our logistics revenue.

“Our unique proposition, which offers the full end to end range of services within the e-commerce field, has allowed the group to benefit from this strong dynamic and will provide further momentum in the coming years.

“Our recent contract wins demonstrate that we are our customers’ partner of choice both in and outside of the UK, for delivering innovative, sustainable, and resilient added value solutions.

“I would like to personally thank all of our colleagues throughout the business, for their commitment and engagement in maintaining our services through the pandemic.

“Our highly deployable asset-light model has enabled us to reinforce our pan-European proposition during the financial year, which together with a strong pipeline of new business activity ensures that the group is in an excellent position to achieve further growth both domestically and internationally.

“The prospects for the group remain strong and we are confident that we will deliver further shareholder value accretion in the coming years”.