Bus Éireann recorded a loss after exceptional items of €700,000 last year.
That is down on the €1.5m loss that the State transport provider had in 2022.
Revenues for 2023 came in at €583.7m, the company's annual report shows, a 14% rise on the previous 12 months.
"While the P&L result fell short of our ambition, we have to recognise that costs - pay, spare parts, insurance, energy - are all increasing in the context of the macroeconomic backdrop and without subvention, these costs impact our commercial business," said Stephen Kent, CEO of Bus Éireann.
The number of passenger journeys on the service grew, reaching 107 million, up 19.5% - the first time the 100 million threshold has been breached.
4.1 million of those were on its 14 commercial Expressway routes, up 14%.
"Expressway continued to recover after the pandemic and achieved its revenue plan for 2023," wrote Miriam Hughes, the chairperson of Bus Éireann, in the report.
"However, costs are accelerating, and our latest financial projection is that a return to profitability on these services, which account for approximately 8% of our overall business, will be delayed until 2025."
"Profitability is critical on these services to ensure future investment in fleet and technology so that the service is maintained and is sustainable."
The company reported a 93% customer satisfaction score, despite facing deductions levied from some of its contracts due to punctuality and reliability issue on certain routes, caused by what it claimed was growing traffic congestion.
The company said it had responded by putting new plans and measures in place, including updated timetables and other service quality metrics, to achieve performance targets in 2024, rather than incurring penalties, given that passenger growth is expected to continue.
"On contractual obligations, the Board is very focused with the Executive team on improving punctuality and reliability to minimise service level deductions and any impact to our customers," Ms Hughes added.
"Given that significant deductions were levied on our contracts in 2023, it is critical that targets agreed are achievable and met for service delivery."
"This will be a key focus for the business as we develop our punctuality improvement and recruitment plans for 2024 and beyond."
The company operated 216 Public Service Obligation routes, as well as 9,765 school transport routes, carrying 162,500 children a total of 166.4 million kilometres, up 7% on the previous year.
Stephen Kent warned that the business would need to continue to manage costs very tightly this year, "for what is a very competitive and low margin business."
"Continuing to adapt to a competitive and inflationary environment will be essential in 2024 when we will face even higher costs on fuel, due to the rolling 18-month time lapse on our fuel hedge," he said.
"In addition, we will need to focus harder on achieving incentives, rather than incurring deductions on our contract performance for the business to be resilient into the future."
