Wincanton in warning despite its big job cuts

Wincanton, the trucking firm that delivers Heinz baked beans to your local grocer, admitted today that savage job cuts last month will not prevent it from failing to hit most City analysts' profit targets.

Shares in the group slid to a new low today, off 5p at 1463/4p. Last February they were more than 380p.

Wincanton, one of Europe's largest logistics and supply chain groups, said the recession is beginning to hurt. It said: "We do not expect that either new business wins or the major programme of cost reduction initiatives under way will fully offset the negative impact of economic slowdown on certain of our activities.

"We now anticipate that our financial performance will be broadly similar to last year, which is around the lower levels of analyst forecasts for the year."

Wincanton last year made underlying profits of £41 million. It is being hit by poor volumes delivering to the construction industry, as well as in the home delivery market and recycling.