Durrant Pate/ Contributor
Transport and courier service company Knutsford Express is beefing up its bus fleet with double-decker premium coaches.

The company has put in an order for two new double-decker premium coaches and three coaches, which will be rolled out by the end of the third quarter in May 2024.

Knutsford Express is currently experiencing an increase in demand for its services, particularly its courier service, from both individuals and businesses islandwide.

To this end, Knutsford Express has brought in additional staff during the August 2023 first quarter to meet the growing demand, while at the same time investing in its workforce to manage the anticipated growth. The premium bus company is currently exploring new and improved products and services to make customers’ travel and transportation experience offerings more seamless and enjoyable.

On-line booking rising

The company is currently seeing a huge uptick in online bookings, with management expressing its delight “to see more passengers taking advantage of booking their travel online and we are encouraged to deploy kiosk to complement this trend of customer empowerment”.

Revenues for the first quarter went up 18 per cent to close on J$491.79 million, compared to J$415.09 million in the corresponding period last year. Administrative and general expenses amounted to J$380.34 million (2022: J$302.94 million), an increase of 26 per cent year over year.

Consequently, gross profit went down 1.0 per cent to J$111.45 million, compared to J$112.15 million for August 2022. Finance income increased by 4,185 per cent to close at J$3.42 million (2022: $79,772), while finance costs increased by 6.0 per cent from J$15.30 million in 2022 to J$16.29 million for the August 2022 quarter.

Profitability inched up

As a result, pre-tax profit amounted to J$98.58 million, a 2.0 per cent increase relative to J$96.93 million reported in 2022. Taxation for the quarter closed on J$12.40 million, a 2.0 per cent decline relative to the J$12.70 million reported in 2022.

Net profit from continuing operations totalled J$86.18 million, a 2.0 per cent increase from the corresponding period last year (2022: $84.23 million). Consequently, Earnings Per Share (EPS) for the three months amounted to J$0.172 (2022: EPS: $0.168).

Total assets ended the quarter at J$1.85 billion, which is J$329.91 million more than the J$1.52 billion recorded last year. The increase in total assets was largely attributable to increases in ‘short term Investments’, which closed at J$306.22 million (2022: J$178.17 million).

Shareholder’s equity was J$1.14 billion (2022: J$835.33 million), representing a book value per share of J$2.28 (2022: J$1.67).