Small hauliers still lack cash
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• Big hauliers are officially out of recession but small hauliers are storing up cashflow problems that could bite back if interest rates go on rising.
That's credit reference agency CCN Group's verdict on the distribution and transport sector after it trawled through accounts oF almost every registered British company. It says distribution companies increased their return on capital from 10.17% in early 1995 to 12.08% in the third quarter of 1996. That compares with a rise from 11.5% to 12.1% recorded by British industry overall.
But transport companies, including many small hauliers, increased profitability from 8.01% to only 8.36%.
That leaves them substantially behind the rest of industry and many of them have little cash to absorb cash demands, leaving them vulnerable to rising interest rates if they are forced to borrow.