25 Jan 2013 14:21
25 January 2013
Eco City Vehicles PLC
("ECV" or "the Group")
Trading Update
Eco City Vehicles PLC, the exclusive supplier of the licensed Mercedes Vito taxi, is pleased to announce the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2012.
Summary:
·; New Vito sales increased by 71% to 561 vehicles in 2012 (2011: 331)
·; Revenue for the year ended December 2012 increased by 40% to £31.1m (2011 £22.2m)
·; EBITDA before non-recurring items is estimated to be in the region of £0.8m - £1m (2011: EBITDA loss £0.9m)
·; Net debt (being cash and cash equivalents together with long and short term borrowings) of £0.8m (2011: £3.1m)
·; Loss before tax from continuing operations and excluding non-recurring items amounted to £0.1m - £0.3m (2011: loss £2.2m)
Trading has remained robust since the previous announcement on 7 September 2012, when the Group reported strong trading in the first seven months of the year followed by sales of 138 vehicles in the last quarter of the year. ECV has now sold in excess of 2000 Vito taxis. The latest version of the Blue Efficiency Vito taxi, which was launched a year ago, complies with stringent new European Union vehicle emission standards as well as providing superior quality, improved fuel efficiency, driver comfort, six-seat capacity and fully meets wheelchair accessibility standards.
The strength in new taxi sales reflects the growing popularity of the latest version of the Vito Taxi as drivers continue to take advantage of the Mercedes-Benz three year Agility finance package which has been continued into 2013.
John Swingewood, Chairman, said: "We are delighted with the continued improvement in performance over the last year and the return to positive EBITDA. This year has also seen a significant reduction in debt, disposal of non-core assets and the consolidation of our controlling position in One80 Limited that earns revenue through intellectual property licence fees from the manufacture of the Vito Taxi.
"We look forward to further increasing our market share, geographical expansion and product and service innovation in the coming year."
Enquiries:
Eco City Vehicles plc | +44 20 7377 2182 |
Peter DaCosta, Chief Executive Officer | |
Ran Oren, Interim Financial Director | |
Numis Securities Limited |
+44 20 7260 1000
|
Stuart Skinner (Nominated Adviser) | |
David Poutney (Corporate Broker) | |
Luther Pendragon | +44 20 7618 9100 |
Neil Thapar, Alexis Gore | |