Luas pretax profit down 25% to €1.39m

Record passenger numbers for the

Luas

were not enough to prevent pretax profits at its French-owned operator last year slipping by 25 per cent last year to €1.39 million.

Companies’ Office returns show that Veolia Transport Dublin Light Rail Ltd sustained the dip in profits despite an 8 per cent rise in revenues as 300,000 more passenger journeys were made during the year, bringing passenger numbers to 29.4 million.

Revenues came in at €53.4 for the year, up from €49.4 million previously but pretax profits dipped to €1.39 million, from €1.87 million. The filings also confirm the company paid a dividend to its French parent group of €1.68 million last year.

A Luas extension linking the Red and the Green Lines, due in 2017, is expected to generate an extra 10 million passengers in a full year.

Numbers boosted
Numbers were boosted on the service as the company benefitted from a full year of revenues from the red line extension to Citywest from Belgard to Saggart that opened in July 2011.

According to the directors’ report the decrease in profits last year “is due to increased administrative costs”. The directors state that the firm’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was €1.56 million compared to €2.025 million in 2011.