£12m doesn't seem that much given to me all the one-off refurbishment and subsequent remedial work which had to be paid for, plus start-up costs, recruitment, marketing and the inevitable slow build-up in passenger numbers.
I've worked in young businesses, I work in one now, and initial losses are both acceptable and expected. Investors are concerned with growth and potential, the current year balance sheet is not as important as you might think. As Metroland says, no business makes a profit in its first year. The payback period for an SME is often 5 years or more.
It sounds like a lot of money but a train company is a serious operation. They are expanding into the West Yorkshire market and have expanded their current operations, not something you'd expect from a failing company. Wild guesses about the payback of an additional unit lease are both uninformed and unhelpful. They will have done the research and the sums and made their decision properly.
I'd worry more about WSMR, which curiously everyone on here regards as a great little company, but do the passenger numbers and service back it up? That is another story.
I do enjoy reading the finanical nous of trainspotters though, very entertaining!
) look fab. only problem is it just seems far too unreliable atm, their seems to be too many anecdotal evidence about train failures or having to be transferred to nxec (which is something I guess) upto york.
