Vasanta publish 2010 accounts

Vasanta is pleased to report further progress in its’ recently published 2010 accounts, which is now gathering pace in 2011.

For the year ended 31 December 2010 turnover was £385m with an EBITDA of £3.8m, which marks a return to profitability compared to the £0.8m loss recorded for the short reporting period in 2009, and a like for like improvement of more than 20% on the full prior year figure. The 2010 operating loss was £1m compared to a pro-forma profit of £3.1m in 2009, due mainly to a £6m adverse movement in negative goodwill amortisation. Net cash inflow from operating activities was £4.7m for 2010, a £10m turnaround from the short reporting period in 2009. The business is well invested with £65m of net assets before funds provided by shareholders and £15m of cash headroom.

Commenting on the results, Robert Baldrey, Vasanta Group CEO noted “The key accounting measures that we focus on in the company are Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) and operating cash flow, before any adjustments for technical accounting issues.  On both these key measures, Vasanta’s performance improved in 2010 and the £10m turnaround in cash flow is a great achievement after the difficulties of 2008/2009.  2010 was a period of stabilisation and recovery, setting a solid base for 2011. We completed the transformation of our infrastructure, with the opening of our new 260,000 ft2  Normanton distribution centre at the end of the year, which was the final phase in the development of our £17m industry leading operational platform. We also saw the start of some significant sales growth across all channels, and in particular from Vow, which has gathered momentum in 2011. Our recent Sales and Marketing Reorganisation has been extremely well received both internally and externally, and I am confident that we have the team, the offer, the infrastructure, and the experience to succeed in 2012.”

Looking forward Andrew Gale, Vasanta CFO, noted “Despite very challenging trading conditions, financial performance has improved in all key areas. The company expects the economy and trading to remain difficult for the foreseeable future and our planning and budgets reflect this view. Our track record on the management of overhead costs is excellent and the completion of the investment in our upgraded logistics network provides us with significant scope for further improvement. Alongside our recent successes in growing with our supporting customers, and also winning market share, we look forward to the coming months with confidence and optimism.”