Wholesaler group Kitwave has seen revenue top £600m in another year of growth as its founder and chief executive prepares to retire.
The North Shields-based firm posted operating profits of £29.3m on a 20% rise in revenues to £602.2m in the year to the end of October 2023. It follows founder Paul Young's announcement of his retirement from the business, which he started in 1987 with one confectionary wholesale outfit. Current chief operating officer Ben Maxted will become CEO.
Mr Young has steered the business, which specialises in supplying independent retailers, into a network of 30 depots across the country catering for some 42,000 customers. Three years ago the firm floated on the London Stock Exchange and now has a market capitalisation of about £213m.
Read more: Train operator Lumo outlines economic and environmental impact
Read more: Motorhome maker Erwin Hymer proposes 190 job cuts in the face of dwindling sales
In recent years Kitwave has been on the acquisition trail and its latest purchase - North West drinks distributor Wilds of Oldham - in November has become part of the group's foodservice business, HB Clark. That division has also seen the addition of fresh produce specialist Westcountry Food Holdings Limited, which was said to be performing in line with expectations after its £29.7m purchase in late 2022. Kitwave is also under way with the construction of an 80,000 sqft distribution centre in the South West.
The results show each of Kitwave's three core trading divisions - ambient, frozen and chilled, and foodservice - saw double digit revenue growth, which analysts noted outperformed the wider market. Meanwhile investors were told a final dividend of 7.45p per ordinary share has been recommended, resulting in a total dividend of 11.20p per ordinary share.
Mr Young said it had been a pleasure to watch the group grow during his time at the helm of Kitwave. He said: "As announced in the group's trading update in November 2023, the strong performance continues to deliver growth with sustained momentum achieved throughout FY23. We are, therefore, able to report results in line with the significantly upgraded market expectations that were established after the group's interim results, published in July 2023.
Most Read
"As can be seen from the results for this year, all our divisions have continued to grow while managing well the inflationary pressures in their cost base that existed throughout the year. The successful integration of WestCountry into the Foodservice division demonstrates the value of our buy-and-build philosophy, with the group continually assessing acquisition opportunities to combine with our initiatives to drive organic growth.
"While we have now acquired and successfully integrated 13 businesses since 2011, the board believes there remain a large number of opportunities available to us in what is a fragmented delivered wholesale market in the 海角视频. In addition to acquisitions we also seek operational improvement. The new distribution centre is an example as it will be key to increasing the efficiency and capacity of the group's South West operations.
"The launch of a web-based trading platform in February 2022 has brought immediate success, with electronic ordering becoming the predominant source of order capture for the group at 47% of all orders in the quarter to October 2023. We recognise the importance of technology and will continue to invest to improve our operational capability."
Following publication of the results, Ben Maxted told BusinessLive that Kitwave had established itself as the "right fit" for independent wholesalers in the market who may be looking to sell up. He said the group's approach is to invest and nurture the businesses and management teams in which it invests.