Wincanton is making "good operational and strategic progress" and trading in line with current market expectations, despite the wider economic headwinds, according to its latest trading update.

The update, released ahead of its AGM today (12 July), revealed that group revenue for the first quarter of this financial year grew by around 11% compared to the same quarter last year, or by around 9% if the impact of acquisitions is excluded.

Wincanton provides a range of services including storage, handling and distribution, eFulfilmen, retailer 'dark stores', two-person home delivery, fleet and transport management and and network optimisation for a range of blue chip customers.

The group is active in a range of sectors including food and consumer goods, retail and manufacturing, eCommerce, the public sector, major infrastructure, building materials, fuel and defence. The company has a 20,300 strong workforce, across 170 sites across the country, and operates a fleet of 8,500 vehicles.

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Wincanton chair Dr Martin Read said: "Pleasingly, growth has continued across all four sectors with each also building an attractive pipeline of opportunities."

Wincanton's eFulfilment sector increased revenue by 17% in the first quarter including the Cygnia acquisition, which has begun operations for The

White Company this week. The trading update revealed that, excluding the impact of Cygnia, eFulfilment still grew by 1% despite the slowdown in online fulfilment.

Meanwhile Wincanton's public and industrial division's revenues grew 11% which the company said reflects the full year impact ofits public sector work with HMRC and further warehousing activity with infrastructure customers.

The logistics company's grocery and consumer and general merchandise division also saw a strong performance with revenue growing by 8% and 13% respectively in the first quarter.

The group said it is continuing to focus investment into robotics and automation "backed by a strong balance sheet." with its investment of around £3m into robotic automation within the Cygnia business "progressing to plan" with three customersset to go live during the third quarter of this year.

Read said the outlook for Wincanton was positive. "While it is mindful of the macroeconomic environment, the board remains confident that the combination of a robust business model, new contract wins, disciplined pricing and a strong balance sheet, means the Group is on track to deliver full year results in line with current market expectations," he said.

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