Unipart Group, one of Europe’s leading manufacturing, logistics and consulting businesses, has announced increased profit in its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2014.
In 2014, the total Group operating profit, including joint ventures and associates, grew from £26.2m in 2013 to £27.2m, an increase of 3.8%. The Group made a pre-tax profit of £16.9m, the highest reported for the total Group since 2005.
Revenue grew in real terms by just over 1%, however the reported Group turnover, including joint ventures and associates, was £786.8m (£1,056.3m in 2013). This is a result of a change in the way some client sales are accounted for as Unipart Chairman and Group Chief Executive John Neill explained:
“During the year we achieved our targets across all our operating units. Our turnover, for the most part, comes from the fees from our many clients,” he said. “In the past, a major client required us to account for sales of products to their customers, which resulted in those sales appearing as part of our reported turnover. In the process of taking on more of their global operations, we restructured that arrangement so that those sales are now accounted for by our client with them taking the associated credit risk. The turnover reflects that change from sales to fees. It does not therefore result in a decrease in our business activity, rather the opposite, as our business continues to grow substantially and profitably.”