Rochester haulier R Swain & Sons has revealed a robust trading performance for the year to 31 December 2009 with the firm remaining profitable despite being heavily exposed to the construction sector.
During the period turnover fell by £3.2m to £22.6m with pre-tax profit also dropping to £41,647 from £96,527. The directors' report describes the firm's performance as "satisfactory" and attributes this to "attention to service provision which has been positively received by loyal customers and resulted in increased market share".
During the period R Swain acquired two specialist hauliers - Charles Hewitt and H&M Plant - which has helped boost the range of services it offers customers "and opened up new customer streams for all divisions of the business".
"This has been achieved without major strains on cashflow which has been a key measure in all activities during the year," said the report.
However, the company's stevedoring division - Transit Medway - suffered from the downturn in construction "which impacted on timber volumes being imported over the company's wharf", causing a loss of £140,836 during the period.
The report adds: "Only modest improvements are predicted in the current year and thus all areas of the business have undertaken vigorous cost reviews to protect the group from the impact of losses being incurred."
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