Wincanton has further strengthened its position in the building materials transport sector with the acquisition of Reading-based brick and block transport specialist Swales Haulage. This follows last year's purchase of RDL Distribution, one of the largest firms in the construction logistics sector. The logistics giant says it has bought Swales -one of the top five businesses in the building services market - for £5.3m.
Gordon Scott, managing director of Wincanton’s industrial business unit says: “The acquisition of Swales is another exciting development for Wincanton. “Over the past 12 months, our business in the building products sector has gone from strength to strength as companies seek increased supply chain efficiency and the support of a partner with national capability.
“The addition of Swales’ infrastructure and customer operations will enhance our offer to the market and bring attractive opportunities for further growth.” Meanwhile, Wincanton has announced a 19% increase in underlying first-half profits. The firm said pretax profit before one-off items was £20.2m in the six months to September, on revenue up 10.6% at £1.03b.
Graeme McFaull, Wincanton chief executive, says Wincanton plans to invest heavily to expand its presence in where its underlying first-half profit increased by 50% to £2.1m. Wincanton believes underused capacity affected short-term profit in several European countries. About 25% of the company's storage space in is currently empty. McFaull adds: “The pattern, the formula for future growth is to drive the business forward quite aggressively. “We've had a good track record of integrating acquisitions”.
