Clipper Logistics passes the £500m milestone for revenue after lockdown prompted surge in demand

Group revenue at Clipper increased by 8.8 per cent from £460.2m to £500.7m while its post-tax profit rose to £16.2m from 2019's £13.4m.

Basic earnings per share were 15.9 pence an increase of 20.5% from 13.2 per cent last year. This has led the board to recommend a final dividend of 6.2p per share, making a total dividend per share of 9.7p for the full year.

Clipper said it had seen a "sharp bounce back in activity levels following implementation of Government restrictions on non-essential retail due to COVID-19 pandemic which temporarily affected high street and e-commerce demand".

The Clipper network had to implement a "swift redeployment" following outbreak of COVID-19, to meet high demand for additional distribution capability from new and existing food retail customers including Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

Clipper also mandated to establish a new supply chain for NHS Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) products, delivering to NHS Hospital Trusts and other healthcare providers across the UK; solution mobilised within four days.

Multiple new contracts with high-profile customers such as Amara, Joules, N Brown, the NHS, SLG and the Very Group were also begun as well as expanded existing contracts with multiple customers including PrettyLittleThing.com, Neon Sheep, Levi Strauss, Sports Direct, Vestel and Ginger Ray.Steve Parkin, Executive Chairman of Clipper said: "I am delighted to report such a strong set of final results as Clipper reaches a significant milestone, delivering record revenues exceeding £0.5 billion. This has been driven by strong organic growth in the period, particularly in e-fulfilment, and value-enhancing acquisitions made in prior years.

"The impact of Government restrictions affected many of our retail clients, however it was testament to our long standing and proactive client relationships and broad service offering that activity levels have swiftly bounced back and have since achieved record levels after the initial disruption.

"There will, without doubt, be longer term changes to the retail landscape however we are confident that our ability to evolve our solutions to meet client needs will ensure that Clipper benefits from these trends as the shift to online retail accelerates."

"Recent contract wins, together with a strong pipeline of new business activity and the further evolution of our Click and Collect proposition, we believe place the Group in an excellent position to achieve further growth both in the UK and internationally and we look forward to the new financial year with confidence as we continue to deliver shareholder value."

A statement from Clipper further read: "General economic conditions remain uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Group has experienced a very positive start to the new financial year, with exceptionally high levels of demand for its e-fulfilment and returns management services in particular. Consequently, the Board anticipates that the Group's results for the year ending 30 April 2021 will comfortably exceed market expectations."

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James Mitchinson