XPD.L Regulatory News (XPD)

8 June 2021

XPEDIATOR PLC

("Xpediator" or the "Group")

AGM Statement

Ahead of its annual general meeting later today, Xpediator (AIM: XPD), a leading provider of freight management services across the UK and Central and Eastern Europe announces the following update on the Group's trading performance for the first five months of 2021.

Demand for the Group's services across all three divisions has been strong, with those parts of the Transport and Logistics & Warehousing divisions that were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, now all trading positively. As with many logistics businesses, trading at Xpediator is seasonal with the majority of profit made in the second half of the year. That said, given current positive trading trends, the Board believes the business is well placed to exceed market forecasts for the financial year ending 31 December 2021.

Xpediator's financial performance as a whole was not impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Where trading was reduced in some areas, other parts of the business outperformed, in particular, the freight forwarding division. This division continues to perform well, with demand consistent with expected trading patterns.

European Freight Forwarding and Logistics has continued to perform strongly alongside Affinity Transport Services, which are both delivering like for like sales increases, particularly against those months in 2020 which were impacted by Covid-19. The Pall-Ex business in Romania has performed particularly well with a record number of pallets handled during Q121.

The Group has benefitted profitably, as expected, from Brexit. While cross channel freight forwarding volumes have been lower, reflecting the decisions by some clients to find alternative sourcing arrangements than the UK, the additional paperwork associated with the new custom control processes has led to additional revenue and the net result has been positive for the Group.

The program to rebrand and integrate key areas of the Group has progressed significantly. In the UK, the business is now largely operating under the Delamode International Logistics brand and those businesses which are not are looking to incorporate this brand within their trading name. As importantly, the individual divisions are now well advanced in unifying all their operating companies under single IT and single finance platforms.

The Group's fashion logistics business, which came under significant pressure as a result of Covid-19, is working to reposition itself to focus on the luxury end of the fashion market. A strong sales pipeline, including some of the world's best known fashion brands, indicate this business is moving in the right direction , although this is subject to the continued re-opening of the UK high street.

Today, the Group is also pleased to announce as part of its focus on port centric warehousing and logistics in the UK, the completion of a new purpose-built 200,000 square foot facility at Southampton's Container Port. The new space will not only increase capacity but it is expected to be more efficient and margin enhancing.

Robert Ross, Chief Executive of Xpediator, said: 

"We believe the actions we are taking across the business are bringing the Group closer together, resulting in individual teams working together better and utilising a more efficient and scalable base, all of which support our objective of becoming a leading international freight management and logistics provider. While the majority of the Group's profit is earned in the second half of the financial year, we have made a strong start to 2021 which positions us well for the full year and beyond."

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

About Xpediator:

Xpediator is a well-established international provider of freight management services. Established in 1988, the Group's international network of offices provides road, sea and air freight services, together with logistics and warehousing in the UK and Romania. The business offers integrated freight management within the supply chain logistics and fulfilment sector, through its three main areas: freight forwarding, logistics & warehousing and transport services. With headquarters in Braintree, Essex and country offices in nine CEE countries across 38 sites, the Group currently employs over 1,200 people and was successfully listed on London's AIM market in 2017.

For more information, please visit: www.xpediator.com.

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