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UK Market Data

Industry profits down as costs rise

RISING costs of fuel, wages and pension costs, plus reduced efficiency from traffic congestion is reducing profit levels in the bus industry, according to the latest Bus Industry Monitor.

The analysis, produced by consultants TAS, shows that operating costs rose by more than 9 per cent in 2005/06, with unit labour costs rising by an average of 4.4 per cent.

Pre-tax profit levels in 2005/06 fell to 6.6 per cent from 7.2 per cent.

“Companies actually did rather well at growing their revenue: it rose by over 8 per cent, thanks to increased passenger volumes and fare rises,” says the report’s editor Chris Cheek. “But the revenue growth was swamped by these rises in costs.

“This is the seventh fall in eight years and if current trends continue, the industry will go into the red in the foreseeable future.”

Profits fell in all areas of the country except London, and were particularly low in the English shires (where margins have fallen to 3.9 per cent) and Wales (3 per cent). Companies operating in the major regional cities earned the highest pre-tax margins in 2005/06 (8.4 per cent, down from 10.3 per cent) and in Scotland (8.3 per cent, down from 10.5 per cent).

Modelling work done by TAS shows that for each 1 per cent change in bus speeds, bus operating costs rise or fall by 0.8 per cent: according to government figures, average traffic speeds in urban areas fell by 4 per cent between 2004 and 2006. “We reckon therefore that this drove costs up by over 3 per cent - on top of the rise in wage rates and diesel prices,” adds Cheek. “As services get slower, it takes more resources to provide the same frequency. People in local authorities and bus companies really do have to get together and act decisively to increase bus speeds.”

www.tas-passtrans.co.uk