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TDG looks to the future after a tough year
Page 8
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Al1 ER A DIFFICULT year in which it faced tough trading conditions and engaged in abortive merger negotiations with Christian Salvesen, TDG has recorded pretax profits of £17m — down from £17.9 in 2003.The company has also ruled out a widely expected share buy-back programme.
TDG's turnover fell 5% to £51 3m in 2004 as contract delays in Ireland and a weak Dutch consumer goods market took their toll. It has ended its pension holi
day and will begin paying £10m a year after a £34m surplus became a £26m deficit.
Chief executive David Garman says the results are in line with expectations: -While we expect trading conditions in our markets to remain challenging, our strong performance in the second half is encouraging. We also expect to improve results in both Ireland and the Netherlands."
Garman says the company's problems result from its compara
tive lack of scale, with further investment needed to support its stand-alone strategy".
Reviewing the failed merger, he adds:"The Salvesen business model was very different to ours They had things that were priorities for them and not for us." But he believes the different outlook at Salvesen would have benefittedTDG.
Garman believes Hays Logistics would have been another suitable partner. "but they were bought by private equity".