North-West haulage contractor Sutton & Son (St Helens) has increased its pre-tax profits by almost £600,000 despite difficult market conditions and regulatory burdens. For the year ending 30 April the company made a profit of £682,000 on a turnover of £39m, but it warns that continuing cost pressures mean trading will remain difficult for the foreseeable future.
Sutton & Son is part of Suttons
Group, whose ultimate parent company is Thomas Cradley Holdings. As CM went to press only the Sutton & Son accounts were available from Companies House. However Suttons Group says its tankers arm improved its performance by reducing costs and "improving operational efficiencies". Its chemicals business also performed strongly, but gas and petroleum operations struggled.
Its general haulage fleet was downsized as well. In addition, a decision by Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell in March to cut Sutton & Son's licence from 175 vehicles to 117 could affect next year's results. A Sutton & Son spokesman says: "The company remains concerned about continuing cost pressures. However, it continues to invest in IT infrastructure and has implemented a hardware replacement programme including emphasis on the capacity and security of business communications networks."
Reed Business Information Limited.©2008
