For the year ending March 31 2024, VP plc - the parent company of Brandon Hire Station - made a pre-tax profit of £2.8m, which is a dramtatic contrast to the £30.7m achieved in FY2023.
This result includes £31.2m of amortisation and impairment of goodwill, trade names and customer relationships, with a further £5.8m of exceptional items mostly relating to Brandon Hire Station.
“Whilst it is never pleasurable to report a reduction in profitability, we believe that under the circumstances, this represents a good result demonstrating once again the ability of our diversified business exposure to deliver resilient profit in spite of localised challenges,” said VP Chairman Jeremy Pilkington (pictured).
VP plc MD/CEO, Neil Stothard, retired from the VP board last September, and he was succeded by former CFO Anna Bielby.
“Brandon Hire Station experienced challenging trading conditions throughout the year, leading to a disappointing performance and lower activity levels than last year," she said. "The high operational gearing of this division means that market challenges impact financial performance quickly and significantly. Fleet investment in this division reduced during the year to match activity levels. As a result of the division's performance, intangible assets, including goodwill, of £27.7m have been written off during the year.”