Exel weathers storm but stays wary

FREIGHT firm Exel weathered last year's global economic storms and is adding customers fast - but it remains cautious about the ability of its technology and automotive sectors to show any underlying return to growth this year.

Exel, created by the 2000 merger of National Freight Corporation and Ocean Transport & Trading, is Britain's biggest freight company. It reported underlying pre-tax profits down 2% to £186m in 2001. It is raising the dividend by 2.9% to 21.3p but chief executive John Allan said investors should expect any growth to be gradual.

The company, the largest outside the FTSE 100 and first reserve to enter the index, picked up £600m of new contracts last year but Allan warned of 'few clear signs of recovery in our underlying markets'.