Stewart Oades can take credit for pushing up operating profit at Christian Salvesen by 15.5 per cent after just a year in the hot seat. Operating profit for the full year rose to £20.9m on sales up just 1.9 per cent at £820.7m.
Oades said: “There remains much to be done and this year we will continue to focus on driving revenue growth and improving the capabilities of the business.”
The business is now grouped into two overall sectors: Food and Consumer, and Transport. Revenue in the Food and Consumer businesses was down two per cent but operating profit before exceptional items rose 16 per cent. The Transport businesses increased revenue by six per cent, but operating profit was down 26 per cent as substantial advances in France and Iberia were offset by losses in the UK.
Oades’ strategy is to build on Salvesen’s strengths, focusing on target market segments to rejuvenate the business. In particular it is trying to leverage existing customer relationships to win larger, more complex contracts that involve significant levels of value-adding services, and to
secure new partners.
Salvesen has identified the provision of integrated end-to-end logistics solutions as important priority and has formed Holistica, a joint venture with international forwarder APL Logistics.
