McGill’s has announced record profits for the year ended 2014.
The group’s profit and loss account shows a turnover of £35.3m (up from £33.8m in 2013) and a profit before tax of £3.22m (up from £1.75m in 2013).
The operator made considerable investment in the year, principally re-investing profits from 2013 into new buses. It said this pattern will be repeated in this year and the next year. Additionally, savings were achieved through the outsourcing of the procurement of mechanical parts and materials.
The company attempted a number of acquisitions during the year, both within and outside of the UK, but none were completed. These were significant in size and would have more than doubled the size of the business. However, a large contract was taken on an emergency basis towards the end of the year which involved establishing a new depot in Lanarkshire.
McGill’s Managing Director Ralph Roberts said: “The 2014 results achieved show that McGill’s is back on track to fulfilling their growth and profitability targets set some years ago. After a year of stifled activity in 2013, mainly a result of the costly Competition Commission investigation, these strong results are in line with forecast.
“The results have allowed McGill’s to significantly increase investment in rolling stock and infrastructure back to planned levels, which benefit customers and service reliability.
“The profit achieved is in line with expectations of public transport companies of this size, but, crucially, all has been re-invested, ensuring McGill’s customers feel the benefit of the business trading according to plan.”