Member Article

Pretax profits rise by 70% to £46.7 million for Darlington's Northgate plc

Darlington’s vehicle hire company Northgate plc has announced a 70% increase in pretax profit, for the half year ended 31 October 2014.

Pretax profits rose to £46.7 million (2013 - £27.4 million), whilst there has been a 49% increase in underlying profit before tax to £47.8 million (2013 - £32.0 mllion).

The company also announced a56% increase in underlying basic earnings per share to 28.6p (2013 - 18.3p) and a 78% increase in basic earnings per share to 27.9p (2013 - 15.7p);

As expected, net debt increased by 15% to £397.0 million (April 2014 - £346.1 million), supporting growth in both countries (England and Spain).

There exists a vehicles on hire growth of 1,800 in the UK since 30 April 2014, including 1,100 from new sites opened since February 2013 (2013 - growth of 2,800);

Moreover, a vehicles on hire growth of 1,300 in Spain since 30 April 2014 (2013 - growth of 1,200) was also reported.

Four new sites opened in the UK in the half year, another opened since 31 October and three more are planned by 30 April 2015

The company reports an average utilisation over the period of 89% in the UK (2013 - 88%) and 92% in Spain (2013 - 93%), with a closing fleet of 57,000 in the UK (April 2014 - 53,900) and 40,000 in Spain (April 2014 - 37,800).

Chairman, Bob Mackenzie, said: “We are pleased by the growth delivered by the Group in the first six months of the year.

“This reflects the work done in recent years, in particular, supporting the continued investment being made in our people, systems and infrastructure.

“Our plans to open new sites in the UK are on track and trading from these new sites is exceeding our initial plans.

“The Board remains confident that we are well positioned to deliver further growth and attractive returns to shareholders. The Group is currently trading slightly ahead of our expectations.”