Hyperama

The period saw Hyperama secure £15m funding from HSBC UK

Hyperama is “wrestling” with ever-increasing costs of operation and suffered a fall in pre-tax profit from £1.5m to £1.4m in its past financial year.

The Unitas cash & carry operator, which has three depots in the Midlands and one in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, reported turnover up £1.1m to £142.1m, its latest financials posted at Companies House show.

Margin improved from 11.7% to 12.7% in the year to 17 January but the level of operating cashflow fell from £1.5m to £583,000 because of increased working capital and reinvestment of £1m.

“Everything is going well with Unitas and business is stable,” said MD Marcus Singh.

“The only major challenge is wrestling with the ever-increasing cost to operate with the living wage and auto-enrolment impact.”

The period saw Hyperama secure £15m funding from HSBC UK, which it planned to use to refurbish its depot in West Bromwich and increase importing capabilities.