Gathering gloom at NFC prospects
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• Gloomy prospects have forced the NFC to slash its final year profit forecast by 28m to 297m after announcing a £3.5m drop in operating profits for the half-year to 24 March.
Transport was one of the hardest hit divisions, with profits sliding 24.6m to 212.4m. Worst affected were truck rental, which fell 20%, freight management, car delivery and bulk haulage.
James Watson, who will succeed Sir Peter Thompson as chairman at Christmas, says that haulage subsidiary BRS is facing a particularly hard year.
The Home Services division, which includes Pickfords, increased its profits by 4% to £8. 7m — but that success entailed "stringent measures to control costs", says Watson, with more than 250 job cuts.
NFC has bought Canadian removals firm Western Moving and storage which runs 330 trucks and trailers.