Staff at troubled logistics firm Eddie Stobart are seeking assurances after it published its interim results for 2019 after a five-month delay. 

The Unite union which represents hundreds of members at Eddie Stobart Logistics Plc, says is still seeking reassurances about the company’s future following its takeover by venture capitalists DBAY last December.

Unite renewed its call for a high level meeting with the company "to better understand the short, medium and long-term plans for the workforce".

Unite national officer Adrian Jones said: “It is almost three months since DBAY took control of Eddie Stobart and the company has still not offered a meeting to provide reassurances to the workforce about its future.

“Our members are becoming increasingly unsettled and unsure about their future due to the failure of such a meeting to be held, where Stobart’s plans can be properly discussed.

“Following the publication of the latest half yearly results which highlight significant losses at the company those concerns have naturally increased.

“In order to restore morale among the workforce and in the interests of transparency it is important that such a meeting is held as soon as possible.

“A failure to hold a meeting will inevitably increase the concern and worry among the workforce.”

Shares in the company were suspended from trading in August when it announced it was delaying its results due to an independent review of "accounting-related items".

The review by PwC, also published today, said nothing had come to its attention to indicate the results were not compiled in accordance with regulations.

The board, however, identified matters which have impacted its results and meant restatements of the company’s consolidated audited financial results for 2018 and prior years.

Results revealed that half year revenues for the six months to May 31, 2019, were £421.3m, compared with £334.5m in the previous period.

The group made a £199.842m pre-tax loss in the six months, compared to a £15.117m pre-tax loss for the previous year.

Shares in Eddie Stobart, which is headquartered in Warrington and has a depot in Lillyhall, near Workington, have also begun trading again.

DBAY now holds a 49 per cent interest in the group.

This transaction provided £70m of liquidity, putting the Eddie Stobart group on a stable footing and it is looking to the future and how to develop, it said.

Last month, Eddie Stobart bosses said William Stobart – fourth child of the company’s founder – would be taking on “day-to-day management responsibility” of the company under its new owners.

Mr Stobart has been touted as key to DBAY’s ambition to restore the company to past glories. Just days after its completion, he was confirmed as executive chairman of Greenwhitestar, in which DBAY has a 51 per cent stake.

In the lead up to its takeover – which was rubber-stamped on December 9 after a tumultuous few months for the Cumbrian-born logistics giant – DBAY said Mr Stobart would work alongside the company’s existing management team to boost its financial performance during the busy festive period.