STOB.L Regulatory News (STOB)

22 Jan 2008 07:01

Stobart Group Limited22 January 2008 Stobart Group Limited ("Stobart" or "the Group") Trading Update Stobart (formerly the Westbury Property Fund Limited), a leading provider ofinter-modal logistics solutions, is pleased to provide an update on tradingfollowing the first twelve months of it current fourteen month accounting periodwhich ends on 28 February 2008. The Group's year end was changed from 31December to 28 February in line with the current practice of Eddie StobartLimited ("Eddie Stobart"), the Group's largest wholly-owned trading subsidiary. Eddie Stobart has grown strongly in each of the last three financial years andcontinues to trade well with new business wins and profitability growing in linewith our expectations for the current year and beyond. Synergies have alreadybeen identified with the other Group businesses, in particular the containertransport operation of the O'Connor Group. The Group's contracts protect itfrom rising fuel prices and despite fears over a downturn in consumer confidenceEddie Stobart continues to grow and considers that its differentiated operatingmodel will allow continued future growth even in the event of an economicslowdown. Whilst the majority of the Group's investment property portfolio was disposed ofat the time of the acquisition of Eddie Stobart the Group remains interested ina small number of investment properties. In line with the current climate inthe commercial property sector the value of these interests is expected to showsignificant deterioration by the end of the current financial period. Stobart has exchanged contracts to acquire a further 47 acres of land adjacentto its large site in Widnes, allowing the development of between 2.0 million to2.4 million square feet of warehousing. Planning permission was secured inDecember for the first 1.2 million square feet of warehousing and the site willbe developed in response to our existing and future customer's requirements. Andrew Tinkler, Chief Executive of Stobart Group, said: "This has been a periodof significant change for the Group, successfully repositioning ourselves as aleading provider of inter-modal logistics solutions. Over the period we havebeen encouraged by the underlying performance in the core businesses of EddieStobart and O'Connor Group. "We are now engaged in ensuring that all elements of the Group are focussed ondelivering our goal of sustained, manageable growth and enhancing shareholdervalue." Stobart Group will be announcing its preliminary results on 6 May 2008. Stobart Group is today hosting a visit for analysts at its operation at theDaventry International Rail Freight Terminal. No material new information willbe disclosed. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange