Bosses at bus firm Go Ahead Ireland expect that the operation of a new bus contract for the Outer Metropolitan Dublin Area (OMDA) North and South will add €50m in revenues per annum to the business.
That is according to new accounts for Go Ahead Transport Services (Dublin) Ltd which show that the company recorded pre-tax losses of €6.25m in the 18 months to the end of December 2023.
The pre-tax loss of €6.25m followed a pre-tax profit of €1.55m in the prior year.
The company recorded the loss in 2023 as revenues increased by 76% from €44.88m to €79.2m.
The directors state that the company has recently entered into a letter of intent with the National Transport Authority (NTA) for a new contract Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area (ODMA) North and South.
The directors state that mobilisation has commenced “and we expect to go live in October 2025”.
They state that “this will see the company’s turnover increase by approximately €50m, an increase of 175 vehicles, an additional 500 drivers and 5.5 million kms”.
The accounts state that the operation of the new contract “will increase our turnover and profit substantially”.
On the 2023 performance, the directors state that taking into account an average of 12 months, “turnover has increased as we have reduced our levels of performance penalties in the year”.
“Further phases of BusConnects along with the mobilisation of the W4/W6 contract have also allowed for the increased turnover,” they add.
They state that the business “is required to operate 98% of scheduled kilometres, below this level we are subject to fines from the National Transport Authority. Our performance increased significantly as we stabilised post Covid. Miles per gallon improved also”.
The directors state that the main contributor to the €6.25m loss for 2023 “was significant inflationary pressure on operating costs reflecting the wider Irish, European and global geo-political and macroeconomic environments”.
As the business expanded in 2023, numbers employed increased by 219 from 619 to 838 as staff costs rose from €26.4m to €49.8m.
On future developments, the directors state that they expect the general level of activity “to increase in the forthcoming period as a result of being part of the BusConnects project which involves the transformation of the Dublin Bus network”.
The directors state the company currently operates four contracts – Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area (ODMA), Dublin Commuter (DCOM), the W4/W6 contracts and the 197 contracts.
They state that the company was awarded a third contract in February 2022 and this contract operates in West Dublin and Kildare.
They state that the mobilisation of this contract began this period and went live in June 2023.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
