1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
Suffolk firm ramps up its profit margin to 11.6%
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Profit margins in the haulage industry are notoriously tight at present, but one firm seems to be bucking the trend. Dominic Perry reports.
NEWMARKET. SUFFOLKbased haulage and distribution firm Turners (Soham) has posted a whopping pre-tax profit for the year ending 1 January 2005 of £14.5m on a £124.7m turnover; that equates to an enviable profit margin of 11.6%.
Overall 2004 was a good year for the firm. Turnover rose £4.7m on the previous year and pre-tax profit was up £2.8m.
Turners works across the spectrum of the haulage industry, handling everything from agricultural goods to bulk powders, with a fleet of 800 vehicles.
Turners also has a 100% shareholding in several other haulage firms: Netherlands-based Turners International BV and UK firms Profresh Solutions and Hargrave International, along with several picking and packing firms.
However, the picture, isn't so rosy across the rest of the industry. Looking at the other companies that filed their accounts this week, none of them came near matching Turners' margin.
Snetterton, Norfolk haulier Foulger Transport had a reason able year; it made a pre-tax profit of £210,000 on a turnover of around £6.8m — a profit margin of about 3%. Profit was down slightly on the previous year.
Preston, Lancs-based WH Bowker made a pre-tax profit of £419,000 on a turnover, including acquisitions, of £85.3m — a profit margin of 0.7%.Thrnover was up
£7.2m on 2003's figures, while pretax profit fell by around £230,000. Pucklechurch,Bristol-based operator Baylis Distribution made a pre-tax profit of £31,000 on a turnover of £38.4m — a profit margin of just 0.08%. This was despite a rise in turnover of 7%, or £2.8m on 2003's figures — the firm's pre-tax profits fell by £415,000 on 2003's figures. Although its results after tax are slightly better (a profit of 1761,000) this still only represents a profit margin of 1.9%.
Warehousing and transport firm Fullers Logistics made a pre-tax profit £371,217.