North East train WiFi provider Nomad Digital has seen its losses widen following a group restructure, despite successfully growing its order book.
The Newcastle Quayside business, which was launched 20 years ago, is a global leader in providing passenger and fleet connectivity systems to the railway and bus markets. Nomad – which was acquired by Alstom in 2016 – has expanded from serving up WiFi broadband services on public transport to developing other systems and services, including media entertainment, real time passenger information services, CCTV and real time telemetry.
Now accounts published for the year to March 31 2022 show a 21% drop in turnover from £32.5m to £25.8m, following a restructure of group activities, which saw its Dutch business and a Canadian project move to other local affiliates within the wider group. Its operating losses doubled from £2.3m to £4.7m and pre-tax losses also widened, from £3.3m to £4.7m. The overall loss for the year was £4.7m, up from £3m.
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Over the course of the year the firm’s workforce grew from an average of 130 to 134 employees. Despite the fall in sales and profits, the accounts highlight a number of contract wins while also outlining how the company “will continue to develop and enhance its solution offerings, as it seeks to penetrate new and growing markets, addressing ever changing industry requirements with innovative solutions”.
But the company noted that after seeing losses in the financial year and in previous years, it is reliant upon its owners Alstom. At the end of the financial year the company had net liabilities of £5.268m.
In the accounts, the firm said: “The company continued to successfully grow its order backlog. Notable successes include the award of a significant French framework and some decisive wins in new territories (Southern Europe) and new segments (Light Rail).
“While operators’ investment plans remain dynamic, the company has continued to see activity supporting operators in offering services to attract passengers back to public transport networks, and also in providing key data insights to operators to enhance fleet management and deliver operational efficiency.
“Turnover decreased by 21% following a restructure of group activities novating Dutch activity to a local affiliate and transferring scope on a Canadian project to another affiliate. This re-definition of scope also resulted in a reversal of revenue and margin recognised on activities previously delivered, impacting the profitability in the year.
“The year saw positive customer feedback on system performance from major operators. It also saw the first section of significant trackside network contract installed.
“The directors note that the company has made a loss in the current year and has experience of losses in previous years. The directors recognise that the company will be reliant on the financial support of Alstom Holdings in order to continue operating and meet its liabilities as they fall due. Alstom Holdings has provided this assurance in writing.”
At the start of this year the company was placed at number one in the TransportTech 50, for the UK’s most innovative transport technology creators of 2022.
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