Rotala ready to roll out new routes
Rotala, the Birmingham-based transport operator, said it is looking to operate new routes and services after posting a sharp jump in revenues this morning. In a trading statement, the AIM-listed company reported a rise in revenues of 10 per cent to the year ending 30 November 2010.
Revenues at the bus and coach operator were up from £40.6m in 2009 to £44.6m last year.
Profits over the same period remained steady, rising slightly from £3.53m in 2009 to £3.58m last year. Rotala also increased its fleet to 480 vehicles to the end of November 2010 and said trading in 2011 is “in line with expectations”.
John Gunn, chairman, said: “The rise in revenue was well distributed amongst our various business streams and reflects the nature of the investment made in both 2009 and 2010.”
Rotala says that its largest competitors in the West Midlands and in the South West are concentrating on trimming their operations and “optimising their own performance”. This, said, Gunn, has enabled Rotala to operate on new routes as the previous operators have retreated.
He added: “I believe that this trend will provide us in the short and medium term with many attractive opportunities to continue the expansion of our commercial services. With our inherently lower cost base we are well positioned to take on routes in our areas of operation which to the larger operators may seem marginal.”
