Strong half year for bus operator Rotala
BUS and coach operator Rotala has seen an 11% increase in half year revenues, aided by a new acquisition and new contract wins.
It is now looking to proposed changes in bus industry to help it maintain growth over the coming years.
The Black Country-based group, which also has a strong presence in the North West, said revenues for the six months ended May 31, 2016 were £27.4m (H1 2015: £24.6m). Operating margins were maintained at 18.2% and pre-tax profits before exceptionals rose by 9% to £1.135m (H1 2015: £1.045m).
Revenues in Contracted Services rose overall by 22 %, when compared to the first half of 2015, to £9.8m (H1 2015: £8.1m).
Much of this success was due to its acquisition of the OFJ business in January. The company operates a service transporting flight crews around the Heathrow and Gatwick areas.
Revenues in Commercial Services, compared to the first half of 2015, rose by 5% to £16.6m (H1 2015: £15.9m).
Chairman John Gunn said: “The company has continued to make good progress in the first half of 2016. We were able to make one significant acquisition in the period and two more small ones after the period end.
“Whilst the bus industry continues to undergo considerable change, the aims of the Government’s Buses Bill have become much clearer since my last report. The effects of the Bill look to be very positive for (the) company.”
The Bill covers the re-franchising of bus networks in major cities and Rotala has a presence in three of the main conurbations, Greater Manchester, Bristol/Bath and the West Midlands.
“The approach of the new transport authorities in each of these regions is however different,” said Mr Gunn. “In both the Bristol/Bath areas and Greater Manchester it is clearly envisaged that the local authorities will use the legislation to achieve complete control over local bus networks by the franchise process. But in the West Midlands a more collaborative approach using bus alliances is favoured by the local authority.
“From our perspective both lines of approach offer the prospect of considerably increasing the market shares we can achieve to a level to which we could not have aspired under the existing structure of the bus markets in these locations.
“These encouraging developments make us confident about the prospects of the group and excited about the possibility of expanding it considerably in the years ahead.”
