Palletways, Europe’s largest provider of express palletised distribution services, has reported a doubling of profit for 2015, following a period of significant investments in new technology, infrastructure, additional services and geographic expansion.
For the year ending 31 May 2015, the company reported operating profit of £10.0m[1], up from £5.1m in 2014, or £13.0m excluding the impact of investment in Germany. Group revenue increased 14% to £237m.
The improved results followed a 9% increase in volumes, with Palletways now sorting and transporting more than 33,000 pallets every day through its pan-European network of 400 depots spanning 20 countries.
Palletways chief executive James Wilson said: “These figures are a strong endorsement of our strategy to deliver exceptional customer service, investing in our technology and network, and expanding our international capability.
“With continued growth in e-commerce and an improvement in economic sentiment, the market for express palletised freight across Europe continues to grow strongly and we have positioned Palletways to capture an increasing share of this growth.
“This is an exciting time for our network as we continue to expand and grow into new markets and we look forward to further progress in 2016.”
The results follow significant investment in Palletways’ regional hubs, including a new facility near its UK headquarters in Fradley, West Midlands, which has expanded its capacity by 8,000 pallets a day.
Work has also just begun on a EU10m investment in a new hub operation in Central Germany which will triple delivery capacity in the region.
The results have been reported as the group has announced further significant investments in expanding its network, with a new regional hub in Montpellier in France, and expansions to existing hubs in Milan, Italy and Zaragoza, Spain to handle additional international freight.
This is in addition to plans to expand further, following a successful expansion into Poland, Romania and Bulgaria as well as the Baltic states over the past 12 months.
[1] Operating profit is given before amortisation of goodwill and non-recurring costs
