Rotala plc has published its final audited results for the year ended November 30 2014. The highlights include: turnover of £51.7m (2013: £53.3m), gross profit margin up to 17.7% (2013: 17.1%), profit before taxation (before exceptional items) up 8% to £2.26m (2013: £2.09m) and net debt at year end down 8% to £18.4m (2013: £20m).
John Gunn, Non-Executive Chairman, said: “It is encouraging to see that pre-tax profits for the year, on a slightly reduced level of turnover and before exceptional items, rose by 8% compared with those of 2013.
“The proportion of the group’s revenues derived from Contracted Services has been falling for several years now, as the focus of our activities has shifted more and more towards Commercial Services. In 2014 this proportion was 35% (2013: 39%).
“Thus revenues in Contracted Services fell overall by 13% to £17.9m (2013: £20.6m).
“As revenues in Contracted Services have fallen, so the proportion of revenues from Commercial Services has risen, in 2014 to 59% of group turnover (2013: 56%). Thus overall revenues in Commercial Services in 2014 rose by 2% to £30.6m (2013: £29.9m).
“Revenues in Charter Services grew by 14% in 2014 to £3.2m (2013: £2.8m).
“Only about 5% of the vehicle fleet needed to be replaced during the year. This meant that, by the end of the year, the average age of the fleet was extended to some 8.34 years (2013: 7.64 years), a figure which remains very competitive in industry terms.
“Our strategic focus continues to be on the expansion of our Commercial Services revenue stream. We are confident that we can, strongly equipped as we are in both financial and management resources, implement our strategy successfully. We believe that the company has performed well in 2014 and that it has good prospects in the years to come.”
