Rotala in successful share placing

BIRMINGHAM based transport group Rotala has raised almost £500,000 through a successful share placing. The company, which operates Flights Coaches and a number of bus services, will use the £461,446 to repay the first tranche of a bridging loan taken out to fund the acquisition of Preston Bus Ltd. Rotala took over PBL in a £3.2m deal from transport rival Stagecoach last month after it put the bus firm up for sale following an investigation by the Competition Commission. The new shares represent 4.7% of Rotala’s enlarged share capital and an application to begin trading the shares has been submitted to the London Stock Exchange. Trading is expected to begin on February 21.

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Castings predicts above-expectation results

WALSALL based engineering group Castings has reiterated its view that anticipated year-end results are likely to be ahead of expectations. In a second interim management statement covering the period October 1, 2010 to January 31, 2011, the company said: “Provided there is no material change during the next six week period, the company is continuing to see an improvement in customer demand and it is anticipated the year end results will be marginally better than market expectations.” It said plans for the further development of its machining business were underway and more information on this would be given in the year-end accounts.

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WS Atkins confident despite challenging market

CIVIL engineering consultancy WS Atkins has said its remains confident of its full-year performance despite challenging trading conditions in a number of its markets, especially the UK where Government cutbacks are likely to impact roads maintenance projects. The company, which has a number of operations across the West Midlands, said that where necessary, it had taken action to adjust resource levels in line with prospective demand.  Headcount for the end of the year is expected to be around 17,700 – less than pre-recession but higher than in 2009.

“We are investing in growth markets and continue to benefit from our geographic and sector diversification,” it said in an interim management statement. The acquisition of The PBSJ Corporation in North America has completed and results for the first four months of ownership were in line with our expectations. It said its UK rail business was operating in a well-funded market and while there were barriers to signalling operations, elsewhere the market was becoming increasingly competitive.

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