Rotala operating profit plunges in 2020

Bus and private passenger transport operator Rotala reported operating profit before exceptional items of £1.4m in its final results on Thursday, down from £6.1m in 2019.

The AIM-traded firm said passenger volumes were gradually increasing as Covid-19 restrictions eased, adding that it was operating “well within” its recently-revised banking facilities.

Bus services were still being supported by the government's ‘CBSSG Restart’ scheme, and said it made no use of any government-supported loan schemes in the year ended 30 November.

Post-crisis opportunities for both organic growth and growth by acquisition were noted by the board.

“The government's new National Bus Strategy does promise large scale fresh investment in bus transport,” said non-executive chairman John Gunn, adding that would be a “good thing” for the industry in general.

“Our belief continues to be that the trends, which bus companies both large and small have sought to combat largely unsuccessfully over the last decade, have not gone away during the pandemic.

“If anything, as in so many walks of business, the crisis has sped up the onset of those trends.”

Gunn said the ‘new normal’ for the bus industry, whatever its shape, would require management that was swift to think and swift to act, adding that the “slow, indecisive and cumbersome” would be left behind.

“I am glad to say that Rotala possesses just the management team to prosper in those conditions with exactly the right characteristics and attitudes that are going to be required.

“Our track record over the last 15 years demonstrates this convincingly.

“Thus I think that the company is very well placed to take full advantage of the opportunities which are likely to occur for both organic growth and acquisitions, and I am therefore confident about the prospects of the group in the years ahead.”

At 0912 BST, shares in Rotala were down 6.67% at 28p.