BevChain has been hailed as a "major contributor" to record earnings for Linfox last year.
Linfox made a net profit after tax of $134.6 million in 2017-18, up from $108.4 million in 2016-17 and $110.5 million in 2015-16. It grew revenue from $2.50 billion in 2016-17 to $2.72 billion, according to the logistics company’s financial report lodged with ASIC.
The success of BevChain's drinks distribution and warehousing business offset the fall in profit for Armaguard.
Linfox noted Armaguard had declined "as a result of increased use of non-cash payment instruments".
Linfox bought out Lion’s 50% stake in Bevchain in 2017.
BevChain started in 2006 and was originally developed to be a dedicated logistics company for Lion's beers, wines and ciders. But it subsequently took on additional customers.
The Australian Financial Review notes: “The accounts reveal a total consideration of $80.2 million to buy the other half of the business, which at the time was generating around $250 million annual revenue."
Its beer customers include CUB, Stone & Wood, 4 Pines and Vale Brewing; spirits suppliers such as Campari and Bacardi; winemakers like Brown Brothers and McWilliam's; and retailers such as Coles and Woolworths.
It operates from 25 distribution centres in six states, with a fleet of over 275 vehicles plus sub-contractors. It employs more than 800 people in a variety of roles.
Lindsay Fox founded Linfox in 1956 in Melbourne with just one truck. The business now spans trucking, warehouses and property, logistics operations such as Aurizon’s Queensland intermodal operations and airports.
BevChain returns as Australian Drinks Awards sponsor
The Drinks Association has welcomed BevChain as a returning Award Sponsor of the 2019 Australian Drinks Awards.
BevChain is sponsoring the Most Improved Brand category at the Awards, which celebrates year-on-year improvement in brand awareness, trial, consumption and perception as being a product consumers would 'most like to be seen with’.
"As a brand and a business, BevChain is always looking for ways to improve what we do and how we do it, so we understand how challenging it can be to execute not only significant change, but we also get how hard it can be to find that last percentage point of improvement," explained Josh Morris, BevChain Group Manager – Strategy, Transformation & PMO.
Morris said the BevChain team was looking forward to attend the Australian Drinks Awards ceremony on August 22.
"The BevChain team is excited, as always, to get together with our friends in the industry and celebrate like only the drinks industry can, and with the new awards introduced last year, we’re particularly excited to see what the industry has been up to in terms of gender equity, workplace diversity, and CSR," he said.
"As the industry-solution for the drinks trade, BevChain puts tremendous value on being able to engage with our customers beyond the day-to-day direct contact we enjoy.
"The Drinks Association, through the forums, events and introductions it provides, enables us to get involved in the industry-wide conversation. The more deeply we understand what’s going in our customers’ world, the better placed we are to continue to evolve our solutions to ensure we continue to create exceptional supply-chain value within our customers businesses."
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