Hong Kong-based mid-sized privately owned full service logistics company EV Cargo has returned to profit in 2024 in terms of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). From an EBIT loss of £1.56m in 2023, it achieved earnings of £22.1m in 2024 on revenues that grew 8.4% y-o-y to £848.68m.
Forwarding business performs well amidst global uncertainties
The Hong Kong based forwarding business achieved revenue growth of 13.2% y-o-y to £536.71m thanks to air and sea volume growth. Sea cargo volumes grew 26.4% y-o-y to 367,400 TEUs while the air freight tonnage increased 16.8% in the same period to 125,800t.
The volume and revenue growth come from a year beset by major geopolitical issues such as the Red Sea crisis and the Ukraine war that have led to longer sea journeys and many shippers choosing air over sea. This was even as Asia – Europe air freight capacity has been challenged due to the Chinese online discounters. Heath Zarin, Executive Chairman and founder of EV Cargo said, “Despite industry-wide challenges, our dedicated team has remained focused on providing customer solutions that drive efficiency and satisfaction.”
Palletforce grows strongly
EV Cargo was founded in 2018 from the amalgamation of eight UK haulage and logistics companies. One of those was Palletforce, whose revenues and volumes have been reported by its parent this year. Revenue grew 9.8% y-o-y to £174.46m thanks in a large part due to pallet volumes growing by 6.7% in the period to 4.48m.
As with the rest of the parent company, inorganic growth is a core strategy of Palletforce, into which 16 UK haulage companies joined the network in 2024. At the recent Members General Meeting Palletforce CEO Mark Tapper said, “We continue to attract hauliers who are new to pallet networks thanks to the fact we prioritise onboarding, training, and support, and provide them with mentorship during their first weeks and months.”
Inorganic growth for EV Cargo too
Consolidation is underway among logistics companies in the UK and Europe, with bigger players acquiring smaller, profitable ones. It seems that in light of this, EV Cargo is more consumer than consumed with now more than 90 locations in 25 countries. Its latest acquisition has been Netherlands based AllPort Netherlands that has been consolidated into the Rotterdam based EV Cargo European operations.
Founder Zarin takes a step back
Effective January this year, founder and former CEO Heath Zarin has become Executive Chairman of EV Cargo, promoting its former Chief Strategy Officer Simon Pearson to CEO. Zarin is also Chairman and CEO of private equity company EmergeVest, which is also Hong Kong based, and has other interests beyond logistics globally.
At the time of the announcement of the leadership transition, Zarin said, “I am excited to transition to a new role to lead EV Cargo with a focus on our long-term vision, strategy and corporate governance.”
Growth in rocky times…
Even though based in Hong Kong, EV Cargo is one of the largest privately owned UK logistics companies. Few such companies are actually owned and run by parent companies in the UK, notably rivals Culina Group that is ultimately owned by Luxembourg based Theo Müller Group. In the last 12 months, Culina Group firstly had sharp revenue and profit falls and then a bit of a leadership crisis as two CEOs stepped down in just months. By comparison, EV Cargo seems to have grown steadily both organically and and inorganically and had a – so far – smooth leadership transition. Relatively small by comparison to most companies we assess here at Ti Insight – it is a sub £1bn annual turnover company – EV Cargo is perhaps one to watch in the coming years.
Author – Richard Shrubb
Source: Ti Insight
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