Rotala returns to profit
Bus company Rotala, which has its headquarters in Tividale, returned to profit in its latest financial year.
The business, which includes Diamond Bus in the West Midlands, made a pre-tax profit of £295,000 for the year to the end of November following a £4.78 million loss a year before.
Rotala's revenue recovered from £78.1m to £96.5m.
Rotala has announced that it has agreed new banking facilities with HSBC that will provide it with a revolving credit facility of up to £17m and a mortgage facility of £5.8m. The company has an overdraft facility of up to £3 million with the bank.
Chairman John Gunn said that in the lockdown phase at the very beginning of the financial year passenger numbers fell to about 25 per cent of those seen in the period of normal bus operation before the Covid-19 pandemic, but numbers rose steadily through the spring and summer of 2021 and stabilised at about 60 to 65 per cent of normal levels.
The relaxation of the remaining Covid-19 related restrictions in the late summer, combined with the beginning of the new school year in September saw passenger numbers resume their upward ascent and by the end of the year they stood at about 80 per cent of the levels seen in the pre-pandemic era.
They dipped sharply in the lockdown period in December, but have rebounded strongly and remain at approximately the same 80 per cent level.
Rotala believes that passenger volumes will continue to be negatively affected throughout 2022 and that true recovery will not occur until the 2023 financial year, but it does expect passenger numbers to continue to rise through 2022
