Stobart Group sells stake in its truck brand to focus on biomass energy and Southend Airport

Stobart Group is to sell a controlling interest in its trucking business to the Isle of Man investment firm DBAY in a £280million deal.  Stobart  Group will sell a majority stake in Eddie Stobart Logistics to focus on biomass energy and expanding Southend Airport.  Stobart will get £195.6million in cash from DBAY, as well as a 49% stake in the new company. William Stobart will head the new business and will own 6% of it. Markets gave the deal the thumbs down, sending shares down 7.75p to 141.75p. The sale includes a complex arrangement under which DBAY can use the Eddie Stobart brand for 4 years without paying. Then it can either buy the brand for use only in transport and logistics for £15million, pay £50million to use the brand however it wishes, or can pay £3million a year to license it.  Stobart believes the trucking business has little room for growth and is selling it to focus on fast-growing Southend Airport and get into biomass generation. It believes the airport can increase passengers from 1 million a year to 5 million without much more investment.
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Stobart Group sells stake in its iconic truck brand to focus on biomass energy and Southend Airport

By ROB DAVIES  (This is Money)

6 March 2014

Motorway stalwart Stobart Group is to sell a controlling interest in its iconic trucking business to the Isle of Man investment firm DBAY in a £280million deal.

The group, whose green lorries are a familiar sight on Britain’s roads, said it would sell a majority stake in Eddie Stobart Logistics to focus on biomass energy and expanding Southend Airport.

Stobart will get £195.6million in cash from DBAY, as well as a 49 per cent stake in the new company, with the buyer taking on £41million of debt. 

Chief operating officer William Stobart, son of founder Eddie, is leaving to head up the new business and will own 6 per cent of it. Markets gave the deal the thumbs down, sending shares down 7.75p to 141.75p.

The sale includes a complex arrangement under which DBAY can use the Eddie Stobart brand for four years without paying. 

After that, it can either buy the brand for use only in transport and logistics for £15million, pay £50million to use the brand however it wishes, or can pay £3million a year to license it.

Stobart believes the trucking business has little room for growth and is selling it to focus on fast-growing Southend Airport and get into biomass generation.

At present, Stobart sources and delivers biomass, but it is planning a joint venture with an unnamed partner to invest in biomass power plants.

It also believes Southend Airport is ripe for growth, with capacity to increase passenger numbers from 1million a year to 5million without much more investment.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2575149/Stobart-Group-sells-stake-truck-brand-280m-deal.html

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CAA aviation statistics

Terminal Passengers at Southend airport:   

Number of passengers (thousands)

UK Airport Statistics: 2012 – annual  (Table 10.3)  Terminal Passengers  2002 – 2012

2013      969,941   (up 57.2% on 2012)
2012      616,974 (up 1353.8% on 2011)
2011       42,000 ( up 1084 % on 2010)  
2010        4,000   (down – 9% on 2009)  link to 2010 data
2009       3,948  (down – 91% on 2008)
2008     44,075  (down 10.6% on 2007)
2007     49,000  (up 63% on 2006)
2006     30,000  (up 489% on 2005) **
2005       5,000
2000       3,000
1996       4,000
**   This increase was because of Fordair flights to and from Koln being moved
from Stansted.   The more recent decline reflects the fact that this company no
longer operates and Ford uses commercial  flights to ferry its personnel between
its UK and German locations.

 

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Air Transport Movements

Number of ATMs (thousands)
 CAA ATM statistics 1998 – 2008

UK Airport Statistics: 2012 – annual  (Table 4.2) ATMs 2002 – 2012

2013      9,476  (up 30.4% on 2012)
2012      7,268  (up + 477.3% on 2011)
2011      1,259  ( no change on 2010)

2010      –     link to 2010 data

2009        75  (down – 91.4% on 2008)
2008      869  (down 1% on 2007)
2007      878  (up 56% on 2006)
2006      562
2005      118
2000       874  (CAA figures)
1996      334
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Some recent news stories about Southend airport:

London Southend Airport opens new £10m extension

13.2.2014 (BBC)

The extension  is due to open to passengers, with a bigger departure lounge, more check-in desks, revamped baggage reclaim facilities, a new arrivals area and five more plane stands have been built.  The airport said the larger terminal would “ensure high levels of service” as passenger numbers grow. The airport claims: “the project could eventually create about 300 jobs due to more planes being based in Southend.”  The first phase of the extension, housing the arrivals areas, opened in June last year.   Retail and catering facilities are also due to be expanded in the future. The airport was bought by Stobart Group in 2008 and spent £100m on its revamp before it opened in February 2012. In 2013 the airport handled nearly a million travellers, but has said it hoped to increase passenger numbers to two million a year by 2020.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-26171915

Also

Southend Airport’s new £10m extension unveiled

30.1.2014   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-25964362

 

Building a vast new airport on the Isle of Grain would close Southend Airport

January 15, 2014

If a large new airport is built on the Isle of Grain, Kent, as London Mayor Boris Johnson has suggested, a clash of air space would mean Southend Airport – and City Airport in London – would probably need to close, the Airports Commission has warned in its Interim Statement. They said this could reduce the options available to low cost airlines and reduce the overall gains to airport capacity over the London area overall. They said that, in particular, it would be very challenging to manage the airspace with the 3 airports. Due to last-minute lobbying by the Mayor and Daniel Moylan, the Commission agreed to look at the £112 billion Isle of Grain scheme, put forward by Wembley Stadium designer Lord Norman Foster in more detail,in the first half of 2014, before deciding whether it should be included in the final short-list consultation starting in October. Southend airport has been emphasising how much money they have already invested in the airport. Nigel Holdcroft, leader of Southend Council, said: “The development of a major airport on the Isle of Grain would have adverse economic and environmental effects on Southend.”      Click here to view full story…

 

easyJet drops flights to Newquay and Edinburgh from Southend

1.1.2014       easyJet has scrapped flights to Edinburgh and Newquay from Southend. It is also scaling back its trips to Jersey and will now only operate 4 a week. This comes after a decision by easyJet in August to scrap flights to Belfast, on January 5.  The company would not reveal the reasons why but said they will “focus the flying schedule there on the routes with the greatest demand.” The airport said  “This summer they added an additional aircraft to the base and have consistently expanded the number of destinations on offer from Southend. We look forward to continuing and growing this relationship.” Flights to Edinburgh have been running since May, and the last will be in June.  ”About 5% of our passengers flying in and out of Southend in 2013 used the Edinburgh services.” The Newquay route was launched in June 2013 and carried almost 8,000 passengers in the summer.  In October, easyJet’s UK commercial manager, Hugh Aitken, said in an extra flight would be added in August 2014.  Easyjet runs 25 flights to Edinburgh from other London airports.   It has also recently started flying from Southend to Tenerife.  Click here to view full story …..

 

EasyJet to fly Newquay to Southend 4 times per week in summer, after it ends Gatwick to Newquay route

October 8, 2013     EasyJet is to increase its weekly flights between Southend to Newquay from 3 to 4 over the summer period only. This comes after EasyJet recently announced it would not continue its flights from Gatwick to Newquay. Almost 8,000 passengers flew from Southend to Newquay this summer by EasyJet. EasyJet – which took over the Gatwick route from Flybe – said there is not enough demand to run a year-round service between Newquay and Southend, and these route from Gatwick was not financially viable for them. A Cornwall MP said the loss of the link to Gatwick would be a “blow to businesses across Cornwall”. EasyJet said : “Following Flybe’s decision to cease operating from London Gatwick to Newquay, Easyjet carefully and thoroughly examined the commercial viability of offering year-round services on the route. Unfortunately, after much consideration, all of the evidence clearly shows that there is insufficient demand to sustain a service using an A319 aircraft with 156 seats.”     Click here to view full story…

 

Centre for private jets at Southend wants to grow from 4 to 20 business jets per day

October 1, 2013    .Southend Airport is hoping to increase the numbers of private jets it handles, and increase the number from some 3 – 4 per day at present, to more like 20 per day. Biggin Hill is its main local rival for business jets. In 2012, Biggin Hill dealt with 5,335 during the year, while Southend had 1,163. Stobart Air’s executive handling facility at London Southend Airport celebrated its first anniversary this July. In comparison, in 2012 London City airport had 264 business flights (the rest are commercial), Luton had 15,055 and Farnborough had 21,986 – so way ahead of the others. Southend claims that although it is further outside London than Biggin Hill, passengers arriving at Southend can travel into the City in little more than hour, are that they are more reasonably priced than some of their competitors. The airport says one major advantage of their executive handling facility is that it is open 24 hours a day with onsite Customs and Immigration services also available permanently. ie. night flight noise for Southend and Rochford residents nearby.    .Click here to view full story…

 

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More news about Southend airport at 

Southend Airport News

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