Member Article

£31.8m pretax profit leap for Darlington vehicle company Northgate

Darlington-headquartered Northgate plc, a commercial vehicle hire company, has reported strong results and continued growth in both its UK-based and Spanish operations.

The company saw pretax profits leap from £51.2m last year to £83m, an increase of £31.8m, as disclosed in its preliminary results for the year ended 30 April 2015.

In addition, the company has witnessed a 45% increase in dividend per share to 14.5p, up from 10p in 2014. Moreover, as a result of the weakening Euro rate, Northgate’s net debt decreased to £337.8m from last year’s figure of £346.1m.

Over the last year, Northgate saw a growth of 1,000 vehicles on hire in the UK and 900 in Spain. Coupled with eight new sites opening since 30 April 2014, Northgate’s fleeting is continuing to expand strongly.The company reported a closing fleet of 56,100 in the UK and 39,400 in Spain.

Bob Contreras, Chief Executive, said: “It’s been another year of progress across the Group and it’s pleasing to see this translate into a strong set of results.

“We remain particularly focused on targeting growth with small and medium sized customers across the UK and Spain and there have been encouraging increases in the number of vehicles on hire in both countries.”

The company also announced today that Bob Mackenzie will be retiring from his role of Chairman at the Company’s AGM in September.

Andrew Page, who joined the Group as Senior Independent Director on 2 December 2014, and subject to re-election, will take over as Chairman following the AGM.

Jan Astrand will also retire from the Group at the AGM in September following 14 years of service. The Board is currently in the process of recruiting a new non-executive Director and will update in due course.

Bob Contreras continued: “I would like to thank Bob Mackenzie as he retires from the Chairman role. Under his leadership since 2010 the Group has more than doubled profits, greatly reduced debt and reintroduced a dividend.

“His guidance will be missed, but we are fortunate to be having someone of Andrew Page’s calibre stepping into the role and we look forward to delivering further returns to shareholders as we move into the next chapter for the Group.

“I would also like to thank Jan for his tremendous efforts and wise counsel over this period. He has made a considerable contribution to the Group and our Spanish business.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →