Operator EM Rogers saw its pre-tax profit soar last year in the wake of low fuel prices and a strong pound against the euro, but said the UK’s vote to leave the EU could now prove costly to its operation.
For the year ended 31 January 2016, the Northampton-based operation saw its profit jump by 143% to £2m (2015: £825,000).
Joint MD David Rogers, who shares the role with his brother John, said: “We had a very good year, we’re very pleased. Diesel prices were low, as was the cost of buying euros.”
This, he said, was the driving force behind the company’s strong performance.
However, the company has a large operation in Europe, and Rogers said the result of the referendum could be detrimental to its operation.
“If the pound falls against the euro like it’s predicted to it could cost us a lot of money. We’ve bought euros to last us until November, but after that we’ll have to buy at whatever price it is then.”
He added that while the price of fuel has also increased in recent months, the company’s operation means it buys a lot of its diesel in Europe, where prices are generally lower.
For the same year, EM Rogers saw its turnover fall by 6% to £18.5m (2015: £19.8m), which Rogers attributed to slowing of activity in its used truck sales department.
He said: "The Commonwealth market that we sell to haven’t been buying second-hand trucks from the UK so much as - as we understand it- are instead buying new Chinese trucks. Lesser copies of Volvo or MANs and such, and it looks like Commonwealth is giving these a go.”
Rogers added that while the current financial year “isn’t quite as a strong as last year”, it was looking “reasonably positive”.
“But of course it depends where the exchange rates go with the euro because it could bring massive costs to us,” he said.
“We’re very confident. We voted to stay in the EU, but we’re out so we’ve got to make the best of it and be positive.”
