TURNOVER at Falkirk-based bus builder Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) has risen by 55 per cent to £266 million as the firm unveiled a string of major new contract wins worth £40m.
The group, which employs some 1,000 people at its Scottish headquarters, plus a similar number south of the Border, said it had scooped a £30m deal to supply 202 buses to Arriva, plus a further £10m contract with Dublin Bus.
It is also to start ma
nufacturing buses in China in response to a growing demand for its already booming market in Hong Kong.
Bill Simpson, corporate affairs director at the firm, said that pre-tax profits for calendar year 2007, revealed in the latest set of accounts newly-filed with Companies House, had slipped from £10m the previous year to £4.6m, as a result of "problems with suppliers", plus costs relating to the acquisition of Yorkshire rival Plaxton. But at the operating level, profits grew 17 per cent to £17.8m.
Simpson said: "The business has moved on a million miles since our last set of accounts.
"The supply problems turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it has allowed us to restructure our supply business, which has allowed us to go from strength to strength."
The company increased its production capacity by 50 per cent in 2007, allowing the firm to take its advance order book to £200m and leaving it set to boost turnover by 30 per cent in the current year.
ADL said in its accounts that it expected demand for new buses to bounce back in the current year, following a 14 per cent decline in 2007.
New products in 2008 are likely to include hybrid products and a revamped "Enviro400" bus model, as well as a "spectacular" luxury coach.
Simpson added: "We are absolutely delighted about the new contract wins, which have all taken place over the last few days. We have also had a number of recent business wins in Hong Kong, where we are already key players in the market."
He said that "kits" to construct the buses would be shipped to China and put together there before being driven to Hong Kong. He added that ADL was also considering a similar scheme in North America, where it has experienced a rise in demand for its buses. He said: "There will come a time when we will have to start looking at having a build operation in North America."
Chief executive Colin Robertson, who took up the post in January last year, added: "The business is now, unquestionably, firmly established as the UK's leading bus and coach manufacturer and we have plans to take it to yet another level in the current financial period."
The full article contains 465 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
