AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

FC TURNS THE TIDE

29th April 1977, Page 7
29th April 1977
Page 7
Page 7, 29th April 1977 — FC TURNS THE TIDE
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

VERALL loss of £15.26m made by the National ght Corporation for 1976 r interest and other charare included.

is is compared with an all loss of nearly £31m on oss turnover of £304m in rading profit in 1976, at , was better by £13m than he previous year, when a mg loss of over £9m was rred (the £4m trading fit and the overall loss of und £15m was predicted by — January 2, 1977).

e annual report, publishhis week, says the Corpoion's main task last year s to reverse the setbacks of 5 — and it succeeded rather ter than was envisaged. )espite a depressed freight rket the NFC re-established an encouraging financial and operational trend in 1976.

The British Road Services Group trading profit of £5.9m was the highest ever recorded, while Pickfords Removals and Pickfords Travel Service produced profits of £1.25m, a record for the fourth year running. Pickfords Heavy Haulage, with £690,000 profit, improved its profit level for the fifth successive year.

Two-thirds of the NFC companies are soundly based and profitable and their trading results amounted to £10.7m.

Encouragement

There was also some encouragement with a reduced trading loss by over E5m in National Carriers Ltd (£9.55m in 1975 to £4.1m in 1976).

The 1975 loss of Elm on Freightliners, in which the NFC has a controlling interest, was turned into a £1.3m profit before interest and other heavy charges.

Roadline UK Ltd, formerly FRS Parcels Ltd, a company that was once the NFC's top money-earner, suffered a disappointing reverse, incurring a trading loss (£1.1m) for the first time.

The corporation say this was due to the effect on the parcels market of the economic recession. Remedial action should reverse the position this year.

Trading result

The net trading result for the Corporation reflects the payment of interest to the Secretary of State for Transport of £10.91m on capital liabilities, £14.57m for closure costs, redundancy costs, charges in respect of pensions liabilities and other items, £6.44m profit on disposal of land and buildings.

The NFC say the Government was reminded in 1974 that however well its constituent companies might do it was caught out at corporate level, as inflation worsened and the cost of inherited burdens became prohibitive.

Such burdens in 1976 included £9.2m in respect of pensions liabilities, including (as an inheritance from British Railways) pensions paid to people who retired before National Carriers and Freightliners were transferred to the NFC, and interest of nearly £11m payable to the Secretary of State.

A grant of funds, totalling £22m in 1976, was made by the Government to meet cashflow deficits, following an independent consultants' study. The Corporation look forward to a changed financial structure to provide relief from obligations not shouldered by competitors.


comments powered by Disqus