Maxi Caledonian, the group holding company for its haulage, construction and warehousing businesses, has increased revenues by 14%, despite trading within an “extremely difficult commercial environment”.

Turnover for the year ending 30 September 2023 was £101.8m compared to £89.2m in 2022, with pre-tax profit increasing by 2% to £4.4m.

Maxi Haulage saw revenue rise by more than £5m to £80.9m, although pre-tax profit fell by almost 27% to £2.6m.

The company said profits in its haulage arm had been affected by adverse trading conditions due to high inflation and overcapacity in the market, which prevented cost recovery.

“Although this position continues into the following period, actions have been taken to combat less than satisfactory trading and we expect an improvement when these have had time to be fully implemented,” it said in a business review.

In a statement, Maxi Caledonian chairman Gerry Atkinson described the results as excellent and added that vehicle prices had stabilised or reduced slightly with an improvement in availability compared with the prior year.

“We continue to significantly invest in fleet,” he said.

“Maxi Construction saw turnover increase to £20.7m and a pre-tax profit of £2m, with a solid pipeline of work into the following period. It continues to maintain its solid reputation for safety and service in its chosen market of projects up to £8m.

“The group continues to follow a policy of maintaining strong financial reserves, which allows investment in assets and expansion where appropriate. This, along with all subsidiaries trading profitably and strong cash flow maintained, support a substantial balance sheet.”

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