Pre-tax profits at the State's largest transport company, Dublin Bus, last year increased by 64% to €3.83m as its customer numbers reached a record 159 million.
The state's largest semi-state transport firm in terms of customers increased its profits as the financial penalties imposed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) almost halved to €4.67m.
The €4.67m imposed in performance related financial penalties by the NTA last year is down sharply on the €9.09m imposed in 2023.
The directors for Dublin Bus stated that the company earned a reasonable profit on Public Service Obligation (PSO) services but this was reduced by performance-related deductions.
They said that "the performance deductions reflect the challenges faced by the company in the areas of service performance and reliability during the year".
The directors stated that "the performance deductions reflect the variability of traffic conditions throughout 2024 which impacts on the company's ability to meet its overall performance targets".
They stated that "improving operational performance remains a key focus area for the company as we enter 2025. The level of penalties for 2024 was significantly lower than 2023, as the company continues to focus on delivering improved services for customers".
NTA figures show that the number of Dublin Bus kilometres that were 'lost' - services that were supposed to run but did nit - has fallen from 7% in the middle of 2022 to just over 3% in the middle of 2024.
In his report, Dublin Bus CEO Billy Hann says that "while our punctuality and reliability metrics have remained strong, congestion continues to impact services".
"Dublin is one of the most congested cities in Europe, and without further investment in bus priority measures, journey times will suffer," he said.
The 2024 annual report for Dublin Bus shows that profits increased as revenues by 12% from €334.8m to €375.82m.
The profit takes account of exceptional operating costs of €1.29m which relates to restructuring and other employee related matters.
Profits increased despite the amount paid out in third party and employer's liability claims rising from €2.54m to €5.17m.
The directors stated that the cost of operating PSO services increased from €324.3m in 2023 to €364m in 2024, an increase of €39.7m.
Numbers employed by Dublin Bus last year increased to 4,224 with 3,201 serving as bus drivers and to meet increasing demand, Dublin Bus recruited 482 drivers in the past year.
Staff costs last year totalled €268.7m with salaries and wages totalling €224m with an additional €17.7m paid out in overtime and €59.6m paid out in allowances.
The pay package for Mr Hann remained at the same level of €276,000 - made up of salary of €200,000, post retirement benefit costs of €50,000, €23,000 in social insurance costs and €3,000 in taxable benefit in kind.
Pay to key management personnel increased from €2.33m to €2.53m.
A note stated that during 2024 a review of the Executive Team structure was undertaken and a revised Executive Team was implemented.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
