Lothian Buses revenue up 5.3% to £142m

Lothian Buses — 91% owned by the City of Edinburgh Council — saw revenue rise 5.3% to £142 million in 2015 and net profit fall to £6.4 million from £8.2 million in 2014, according to the company’s annual report.

The company paid a dividend of £5.5 million to its shareholders.

More than 121 million passengers travelled on Lothian Buses services in 2015, an increase of two million.

The increase followed a rise of three million the previous year.

The company invested £7.6 million in 20 new low emission diesel-electric hybrid buses and 12 new Euro 6 low emission vehicles, the latter specifically for their Airlink Edinburgh Airport service.

Lothian Buses employed an average of 2,232 people during the year and paid out £68.9 million in wages and salaries, £5.8 million in “social security costs” and £8.1 million in “other pension costs.”

As for directors’ remuneration, the annual report showed “aggregate emoluments and benefits” for directors of £810,000, aggregate pension contributions of £139,000 and a “highest paid director’s emoluments and benefits” of £211,000.

Jim McFarlane, chair of Lothian Buses, said: “The accounts show that we continue to buck the national trend, once again increasing our passenger numbers and revenue on the strength of the safe, reliable, efficient and highly regarded service that we provide.

“Our strong performance and effective management of cost pressures also mean that we can again return a £5.5 million dividend to the shareholders while also investing more in the next generation of environmentally friendly buses as we aim to reduce our carbon footprint further and improve local air quality.

“I must commend the whole team, including our drivers, engineers and management, who continue to deliver one of the best bus services in the UK year after year.”

Lothian Buses full annual report: http://lothianbuses.com/assets/files/Lothian_Buses_Annual_Accounts_2015.pdf