Optare narrows pre-tax loss

In the year ended March 31 2013, the firm, which is based in Sherburn in Elmet, posted a pre-tax loss of £7.4m, down from £13.4m the previous year.

In 2011, Optare moved to a new factory in Sherburn in Elmet in North Yorkshire. The opening of the production site saw the closure of facilities in Leeds and Blackburn and the sale of the company’s Rotherham site.

Interim chief executive Per Gustav Nilsson said this period of consolidation had contributed to the group’s performance.

“Despite challenging market conditions over the last twelve months, I am pleased to report that we are now seeing the positive rewards resulting from consolidating the manufacturing sites and the significant investment in our new facilities,” he said.

“We have made considerable progress in supply chain cost reduction, implementing manufacturing efficiencies and further improving the quality of our products, and we continue to focus on our processes to drive continuous improvement. We are confident that we have built solid foundations for stability and growth to meet future challenges, secure in the knowledge that we have the support and backing of Ashok Leyland.”

Optare said its current order book stands at £20.2m and has seen revenues of £75.9m - a growth of six per cent over the prior period of the 15 months to March 31 2012.

The company also highlighted the export of 177 Solo kits to the City of Cape Town - the highest ever export order achieved by Optare.

The business posted overall sales of 389 single deck vehicles, a slight decrease on the previous 15 month period.

Throughout the financial year, Optare has also launched three new products, Metrocity, Versa 11.7m and Bonito.

Optare said the retail market continues to be suppressed with the overall sale volumes flat across the company’s traditional markets, with higher manufacturing capacity than demand but is looking to growing opportunities in international markets.

Optare said: “The board anticipates that the UK market will be flat in the near future but growing opportunities exist in the Middle East, South East Asia and African countries.”