Bus firm in large profit
From the Lancashire Telegraph, first published Monday 11th Sep 2006.
Blackburn Transport made more than £100,000 profit in the first four months of the financial year.
Company accounts obtained by the Lancashire Telegraph show that the firm recorded a profit of £117,400 in the 18 weeks to July 30, 2006.
The company, owned by Blackburn with Darwen Council, is due to be sold to Blazefield Holdings, the Yorkshire-based arm of French transport giant Transdev.
But critics of the sale say recent figures prove the company has turned the corner and put the loss- making days of the past years behind it.
The statement of accounts stated that the company had saved money by cutting costs in a number of areas and also generating more income.
In July it made £74,500 profit which included £16,800 in excess income, plus cost savings of £18,800 on drivers, £5,200 on fuel, £11,700 on maintenance, insurance £8,700, and bus resale profits of £9,200.
Some of the savings were generated because of reduced bus costs because the company lost a number of school bus tenders for the council.
But Coun Dave Harling, executive member for resources, told the council that one period of profit had to be set against a background of massive losses.
He said: "Over a period of a couple of months it might be in a position to show that. But when you look at the past six years it's a different picture."
He said sale of the company would see massive investment in new buses and secure the long-term future of the company.
The latest publicly available information on Blackburn Transport finance's show it was £74,536 in the red for the year to March 2005.
That compares with losses of £68,233 in March 2004 and £462,243 in March 2003.
It is understood that in the year ending March 2006 the company recorded losses in the tens of thousands, although exact figures have not yet been released.
However Jim Casey, branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, said: "Clearly, now is not the time to sell, when Blackburn Transport as a company is trading profitably."
He said the process of the sale was a "disgrace" and had been conducted in a "secretive" and "non-transparent" manner.
Michael Morton, managing director of the company, said: "I am not at liberty to discuss anything. But we don't lie in our management accounts."
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