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Norbert looks east, south and here
Page 7
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FRENCH TRANSPORT giant Norbert Dentressangle has revealed ambitious expansion plans including the possibility of cherry-picking the assets of UK logistics firm Hays.
But ND group chief executive Jean-Claude Michel plays down the possibility of an overall takeover: -For us Hays is too big. However if it is not to be sold globally then maybe some activities in some countries would be attractive to us."
It is thought that Iberian operations would be of particular interest to the French operator. which expects its turnover to pass E1.2bn (£0.83m) this year. Michel also expects profits to grow by a whopping 15% this year. He adds: "We want to develop both turnover and profitability — turnover without profit is of no interest to us."
ND, which has also moved into Eastern Europe to service major contracts with Nestle and Adidas. wants to become a major domestic UK transport firm. But Michel says the firm has been forced to balance its books, choosing to pay ferry fees in either euros or sterling depending on the exchange , rate to counteract the effect of doing business with UK firms.
ND also plans to introduce its system of traffic planning into the UK to combat the effects of the Working Time Directive. French drivers are already limited to 200 hours a month and ND's planners spend most of their time monitoring drivers' hours.