Rotala PLC
30 July 2007
Rotala plc
('Rotala' or the 'Company')
Trading and Acquisition Update
Trading Update
The Board is pleased to announce that in recent weeks the main operating
subsidiaries of the Company (together the 'Group'), Flights Hallmark Limited and
Central Connect Limited, have been awarded a total of ten new contracts. On an
annualised basis, these new contracts should generate, in aggregate, additional
revenues of £1,705,000.
The Board is particularly pleased to have obtained a further contract in the
Bristol area from the University of the West of England. Part of this contract
was formerly operated by South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach Company Limited
('SGBCC'), but the new contract is a considerable advance on this.
The Group has been awarded two new services by Worcestershire County Council,
one contract with a term of four years and the other with a term of three years,
and several smaller contracts by local educational authorities in the West
Midlands. Also in the West Midlands, the Group has been awarded extra routes by
Transco for staff transportation, to add to the existing work already undertaken
for this organisation.
Finally, out of the Group's Heathrow depot, the Company has won a new contract
from Qantas to transport its aircrew and GlaxoSmithKline has awarded the Company
an enhancement of the services it presently runs for it.
Following on from the contract awards announced in February of this year, these
awards mark another significant step forward for Rotala in building its
operations organically as well as by acquisition. The Board is delighted by the
strength of the flow of business this year and by its ability to win new
contracts; the Company remains on track to meet its full year expectations. The
award of these new services emphasises the Company's commitment to increase its
turnover and to become a significant force in transport operations in its chosen
locations.
John Gunn, Chairman of Rotala, commented 'Our executive team is to be
congratulated on achieving further contract successes. We look forward to
creating a significant transport company in the years to come, based on our
original business model of well-targeted acquisitions taken together with
further organic growth.'
Acquisitions
Further to the announcement by the Company on 18 June 2007, Rotala is pleased to
announce that it has completed the acquisition of North Birmingham Busways
Limited ('NBB') and the purchase of the first phase of contracts and assets from
SGBCC.
NBB
NBB is a bus company that operated 26 buses from a site in the Erdington
district of Birmingham, some two miles from the Company's Long Acre depot. NBB
is long established on a number of its routes and the majority of the work
undertaken by NBB is commercial stage carriage. Approximately one third of its
revenues derive from contracts with Centro, which is the operating name of the
West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive.
The Directors believe that immediate cost savings can be made from a reduction
in maintenance, accounting and administration overheads. Integration of the
NBB's business into the existing business of the group has already begun. NBB's
fleet of buses moved to Long Acre over the past week-end.
SGBCC
In the first phase, the Group has taken a sub-contract of a contract with
Bristol City Council for the provision of four bus routes in Bristol until such
time as this contract can be novated to it; it has acquired eleven vehicles to
service these routes and the existing University of West of England contract
referred to above.
As set out in the final sale and purchase agreement with SGBCC, the Group, in
total, will acquire 64 buses for a price of £1.04 million. The right to operate
the routes that these buses run on will be acquired for a consideration of a
further £600,000. The acquisition of the buses and routes will be in a number of
tranches but will be completed in full by 31 March 2008. The total consideration
of £1.64 million will be apportioned to particular buses and routes on
completion of the acquisition of these buses and routes and will be paid in
stages.
An update on the ongoing acquisitions of the bus business of SGBCC and Ludlows
of Halesowen Limited will be announced by the Company in due course.
Enquiries:
Contacts:
John Gunn, Chairman 020 7236 6236
Kim Taylor, CEO 07918 883796
David Seal / Rhod Cruwys, Blue Oar Securities Plc 020 7448 4400
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
Please note, this site uses cookies. Some of the cookies are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but if you do, parts of the site may not work. To find out more about the cookies used on Investegate and how you can manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy
To continue using Investegate, please confirm that you are a private investor as well as agreeing to our Privacy and Cookie Policy & Terms.