Air freight haulier Saints Transport more than tripled its losses in the 18 months to 30 June last year.
In its latest financial results the family firm, which is based at Heathrow, revealed that, despite increasing turnover to £34.8m (2017: £24.3m) in the period, its losses almost trebled to £1.5m (2017: £497,837).
Saints Transport’s gross profit margin fell from 22.7% in 2017 to 18.62% in 2019, which the company said was the result of oil price rises.
In its strategic report to the results, Saints Transport said that despite the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, which “potentially threatens staff health and expected cashflows”, it is confident it has “sufficient resources available to meet the group and the company’s obligations and to enable it to operate in the foreseeable future”.
However the company directors also noted that “there exists a material uncertainty at this time” in relation to the ability of Saints Transport to continue as a going concern – a view echoed by the company’s auditor in her report on the firm’s results.
Saints Transport was founded in 1968 by Martin Carroll and Steve Beeches and is run by Carroll’s son Piers and Beeches’ brother Kevin.
It is the largest privately owned air freight specialist in the UK, employing around 350 staff and operating a fleet of 200 trucks.
The company also specialises in high value security loads, temperature controlled transport, hanging garment carriers, nationwide airside capabilities, art logistics, events work and dedicated European haulage.
The company has yet to respond to a request for comment.
