Dart Group's distribution business, Fowler Welch-Coolchain, was a bright spot in a mixed set of results for the six months to 30 September. Fowler Welch-Coolchain increased turnover by 11% from £53.1m to £58.8m, with profit margins slightly behind the same period last year. Overall, the group anno-unced pre-tax profit was up 15% to £18.4m and turnover up 27% to £253m, but the figures, when adjusted to new accounting standards, reveal underlying pre-tax profit was down 39% at £12.2m.
Dart
continues to expect "considerable growth" for Fowler Welch-Coolchain in both chilled and non-chilled warehousing and distribution. Around £6m a year should be added to turnover due to a new ambient consolidation contract, ongoing growth in supermarket distribution and new contracts for several food providers.
Dart's shares dropped 11p to 54.5p on the release of the results. The shares, which earlier in the year traded at around £1.50, have been falling for several months. The group's biggest business is budget airline Jet2.com and its fall in profitability was attributed to "an emphasis on growth rather than margin in its scheduled operations".
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