Ballyvesey Holdings, the Northern Irish firm that owns Montgomery Transport and trailer manufacturer Montracon, has seen a return to profitability in its accounts to 30 September 2007. The firm made a pre-tax profit of £2.03m in the 12-month period, on a turnover of £249m, despite what its directors describe as "continuing difficult trading conditions throughout the year". In comparison, its 2006 figures show a pre-tax loss of £948,161 on a turnover of £251m.
Looking forward, it says that the business environment will remain challenging and cites "static incomes, strong competition and rising prices of energy and raw materials" as particular concerns. At subsidiary firm Montgomery Transport, the directors say they are "reasonably pleased" with the firm's progress during the year: it saw pre-tax loss shrink to £1.1m on a turnover of £36.1m from a £2.4m loss on turnover of £36.7m in 2006.
The directors report says intense competition in the sector meant that there was little opportunity to pass increased costs on to customers, but cost control and increased efficiencies have helped the situation. Meanwhile at Montracon, losses were again reduced: down to £845,533 from a loss of £1.9m in 2006. Turnover was up at £54.6m, from £49.3m the year before.
Cambridgeshire haulage firm Welch's Transport was taken into the red in the year to 31 December 2007 after the company paid a dividend of more than £1.5m to its sole shareholder, parent company Welch's Group Holdings. Pre-tax profit at the firm was £266,668, however, the dividend paid to Welch's Group Holdings pushed the firm to a loss of £1.3m after tax.
Turnover is not stated in its abbreviated accounts, however, the financial statements for its parent company - which also include revenue from its crane hire and garage divisions - show that it contributed some £11.6m to the overall group turnover of £17.1m. Both figures were an improvement on 2006, where the transport operation made £10.6m and group turnover was £15.5m. Group pre-tax profit was £286,353, down from £458,079 in 2006.
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