Oyster-style travelcards have helped bus operator Rotala to drive ahead annual profits.

Rotala, which runs commercial bus networks in the West Midlands and north west England, said revenue from a multi-operator network card introduced by Birmingham transport authority Centro was helping it gain market share.

The company also said revenue from the roll-out of its own network cards had risen by 70% in the last two years.

Rotala said pre-tax profit before one-off items in the year to November 30th had risen by 5% to £2.2m, although turnover fell to £53.3m from £54.8m a year ago.

Revenues in its commercial services arm rose by 1.2% to £29.9m, but revenue in its contracted services division overall fell 8.5% to £20.6m, due largely to the loss of two routes run for a rival operator.

Rotala said it was taking legal action to try to recover its losses.

The group has proposed a final dividend of 1.05p per share against 0.9p a year ago, resulting in a 14% rise in the total dividend to 1.6p.

At 15:15, shares in Rotala were unchanged at 50p in London.

PW

Related share prices
Rotala (ROL) share price