Wholesale delivery firm Kitwave has posted a slight fall in its operating profit to £10.8m in its half-year results, down from £11.7m in the same period a year ago.

Despite the slide in profits, the group still managed to record an 8% rise in revenue to £297m in the six months to 30 April.

Kitwave reported that its gross profit margin declined slightly to 21.5%, reflective of the reduced turnover across its hospitality customers within the Foodservice division, which was driven by a reduction in footfall due to the persistent wet weather in the first four months of 2024.

The group also revealed that cash generation from its operating activities totalled £12.4m, which compared to £11.7m in H1 last year.

Kitwave was reporting its first set of results since Paul Young retired as the group’s CEO and was replaced by former chief operating officer, Ben Maxted.

Maxted said the group had made “positive progress” towards its strategic targets during H1.

“As noted in the pre-close trading update, operating profit for H1 2024 is slightly behind the prior year due to investment and lower levels of demand in the group’s foodservice hospitality customer base,” Maxted added.

“This, alongside the benefits of the increased investment in infrastructure and the inclusion of trade from total foodservice in H2 2024 will lead to the company’s annual financial performance having an increased second-half weighting.

“Despite the slight shortfall in operating profit in H1 2024 and the continued wet weather in May and early June, we expect to be in line with market expectations for the full year ending 31 October 2024.”

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