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Christian profits
Page 19
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• Reorganisation within the Christian Salvesen group has paid off by producing an 18.5% boost in profits to £62.1m for the year ending March 31.
Chairman John West says the company has been finetuning its operations which now focus on three core activities — distribution, manufacturing and specialist hire. "We have withdrawn from some businesses and expanded others. "We have also reogranised our management structure. The company has a momentum in its activities and I look upon the current year with confidence."
He says the move into contract-hire last year was going according to plan, but the development of the non-food side of its UK distribution business has been sluggish, with the impact of the slowdown in retail sales becoming increasingly apparent in the second half. "The emphasis on food products represents 85% of our distribution volumes."
West says the company's Continental distribution operations had seen mixed fortunes with poor performances in France and Holland, partly offset by reasonable trading in Belgium. "But in France we will continue to develop frozen and chilled distribution business from our centres at Paris, Langon and Salon," says West.