Hargreaves Services, the largest bulk haulier of coal and aggregates in the UK, is expected today to report maiden first-half profits significantly higher than the £2.5 million forecast by Brewin Dolphin, its stockbroker.
Shares in the Durham-based company, which was formed 12 years ago from the haulage business of RJB Mining, have rallied 46 per cent since it joined AIM last November at 243p, giving it a current market capitalisation of £84 million. On its first day of listing, the shares closed at 276p.
The company, which also owns the only independent metallurgical coke producer in the UK, was founded with 20 lorries. It now has more than 370, specialising in bulk transport across its four divisions — haulage, waste services, coal and mineral imports — and the coke works.
Gordon Banham, chief executive, joined the company in 2001 and led a £24 million management buyout in April 2004. Mr Banham and Peter Dillion, its finance director, between them own about a quarter of the company.