Documents filed by Companies House earlier this month have revealed that Eddie Stobart Ltd increased its profits in the year up to November 2020 by £51 million compared to the year before.

According to the company’s financial statement, turnover reduced by £45.0 million in the year with revenues of £559.1 million. The statement says that the “majority of this reduction is a result of positive actions taken to deliver the strategy to focus on core capabilities, including the exit of uneconomic contracts in the industrial, retail and bulk sectors.”

However, while the company’s turnover declined, its profit from operating activities before exceptional items was £33.7 million for the year – an increase of £51.0 million (2019 resulted in a £17.3 million loss).

The company says £19.7 million of this arises from the implementation of IFRS 16, with the remainder coming from “the impact of the actions taken to re-balance the transport network (increasing efficiency, reducing empty miles and exiting unprofitable contracts), to increase the utilisation of our assets and to control the cost base.”

Eddie Stobart Ltd’s statement adds that the company is confident in its ability to deal with changing market conditions post-Brexit, citing the fact that it predominantly operates within the UK:

“Whilst we remain mindful of the current economic uncertainty around Brexit, we are confident that our unique operating model provides us with the flexibility to respond rapidly to changing market conditions; our transport network has supported customers in transporting their Brexit contingency stocks. Our transport operations are predominately UK mainland based with no material cross-channel movements on our fleet.”

Another significant part of the statement refers to the importance of Eddie Stobart’s contract with Morrisons supermarket, which was signed in October 2020. In May of last year, the company also acquired the “Stobart” and “Eddie Stobart” brands for £10 million.

When it comes to labour expenses, figures from the aforementioned statement show that Eddie Stobart Ltd reduced its wage and salary costs by around £14,000 compared to 2019.

The company achieved the savings despite appearing to hire more drivers. This is largely down to a significant fall in the number of administrative staff employed by the company.

News of the company’s £51 million profit comes at the same time a leaflet has been advertising trucker’s wages in some regions of the UK that are just over £1 higher than the national minimum wage.