Four months after its IPO, maiden annual numbers from supermarket packing crate supplier Polymer Logistics reveal a fast-growing venture signing sizeable deals accross the globe.

Netherlands-based Polymer provides packing units for supermarkets, which double as display cases, meaning products go from supplier to depot, to supermarket, to shop floor without leaving their pallet. Then, when they’re emptied, they are sent back to Polymer, which washes and repairs them if necessary and sends them back out.

With pressure on large stores to cut back their levels of waste, Polymer’s products provide an ideal solution, reducing supply chain costs and increasing the supermarket’s ability to keep products in front of shoppers.

In 2000, led by chief executive Gideon Feiner, Polymer began operations in the UK, ‘the most advanced retail country in the world’. Almost 80% of sales are now derived there, with customers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, as well as suppliers such as Coca Cola and Carlsberg. The company joined AIM at the beginning of the year after a £15m fundraising at 82p.

In the year to December, Polymer ratcheted up revenues 58% to 22m (£15m), pre-tax profit 164% to 3.8m and earnings 200% to 0.06 (4p). The group recently won two four-year contracts in Italy with top retailers Carrefour and Ortofin, worth 15m annually. It has penetrated the German and Spanish markets, and initial steps in the US have been made, with WalMart ‘close’ to being a first client. Polymer is only strong in drinks and vegetables in the UK so there’s much more to gun for via continued sales and marketing as well as product development.

House broker Collins Stewart predicts earnings of 7.6p and 13.3p this year and next, putting the shares on p/e ratios of 13.4 and 7.7. There’s plenty of room for further fast growth and the price is still palatable. Speculative buy.