Sale of Property

RNS

16 June 2022

Rotala Plc

("Rotala", the "Company" or the "Group")

Sale of Property

The Company is pleased to announce the sale of a surplus leasehold property in the Queslett area of northern Birmingham for a gross cash consideration of £350,000.

In an acquisition made in 2006, the Group acquired a leasehold bus depot in Queslett, which, because of its proximity to another depot of the Group, was never actually used by Rotala and has been sub-let for most of the intervening period. The depot has now been sold back to the freeholder, Birmingham City Council.

Under IFRS 16, the lease commitment represented by the stream of rental payments on such a lease is capitalised and shown as a lease liability on the Group's balance sheet. Thus, at the date of sale of the property, the Group was carrying a liability on its balance sheet, net of the book value of the leasehold asset, of £310,000.

Therefore, this sale, net of the costs of disposal of £17,000, will result in a profit of approximately £643,000. There is no taxation associated with this disposal. This profit will be treated as an exceptional item in the Group's profit and loss account for H1 FY22. The net cash proceeds of sale of £333,000 will be used to reduce the Group's borrowings.

The normalised profit before tax of the Group for H1 2022 is expected to show a break even position.

The Group's results for H1 2022 are expected to be published in late July 2022.

About the business

Rotala provides a range of transport solutions, ranging from local bus services under contract to local authorities, through to commercial bus routes. Rotala has operations at Heathrow Airport, in the West Midlands and in the North West. Operating companies are Diamond Bus Ltd, Diamond Bus (North West) Ltd, Hallmark Connections Ltd and Preston Bus Ltd.