Redde Northgate PLC on Tuesday said it has made an ‘encouraging’ start to its financial year, with the commercial vehicle hire firm weathering inflationary pressures.

The financial year for the Darlington, England-based commercial vehicle hire firm started on May 1.

‘As expected the [UK & Ireland] market for new van supply remains tight, while new car availability is showing early signs of improvement,’ Redde Northgate said.

‘Since the year-end we have completed the acquisition of Blakedale Ltd, a leading UK supplier of specialist traffic management vehicles to highways infrastructure build and maintenance operators, which adds over 330 vehicles to the fleet and brings further capabilities and cross-sell opportunities into the Northgate UK & Ireland customer base.’

In Spain, new van supply is better than expected. Redde Northgate said its margins ‘have remained strong’ and inflation is being ‘actively managed’.

‘Whilst mindful of economic uncertainty, the board remains confident that it has the right strategy to deliver long term sustainable value. The group is supported by its enhanced mobility solutions platform, the structural growth in outsourcing, a diverse revenue stream and a broad spread of customers providing the business with quality, repeatable long-term contract-backed earnings,’ the company said in its outlook.

In the financial year that ended this past April 30, pretax profit nearly doubled to £132.7 million from £67.2 million. Revenue rose 12% to £1.24 billion from £1.11 billion.

Redde Northgate shares were 1.1% higher at 300.21 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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