Total call volumes to 131-008 remains strong with over 30.7 million successful calls in the 2012 financial year, an increase of 0.8% nationally over the previous year. This growth in call volumes has been trending upwards since June 2012, so the outlook over the 2013 financial year is for continued moderate growth in call volumes.
The net profit for the company last financial year was $52,077.00, an increase of 116% compared to the previous year. Total revenue for the year remained steady at 2011 levels, as did administrative and operational expenses. The most significant contribution to the higher than usual profit was a 37% reduction in marketing expenditure over the year.
The Call Rebate Scheme returns company revenue directly to member taxi services. In May and June of 2012, almost $240,000.00 was paid to members under the scheme. As mentioned in the Financial Report, the company has new contractual arrangements with its telecommunications provider effective 1 September 2012 that will significantly increase the company’s telecommunication costs. The company is considering all available options to reduce the new charges, however, the amount paid out under the Call Rebate Scheme may be reduced in coming years to offset the new charges.
Access to the 131008 service is an important and sought after asset for any taxi service and as such, the company continues to welcome new shareholder taxi services from all over Australia. In the last financial year the company share register expanded to include taxi services from Cobar in New South Wales and Mareeba in Queensland.
2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Taxi 131-008 Limited. Back in 1992, when each taxi service promoted its own local phone number, the company’s founding shareholder taxi services saw the benefits to their own company, the taxi industry and the public at large of a single national taxi phone number. Today, 131-008 is more than a phone number, it’s a national brand.
Whenever a brand reaches the level of awareness and strength that the 131-008 brand has achieved, there will always be other individuals or organisations seeking to exploit the brand for their own benefit and to the detriment of this company. Our member taxi services can rest assured that the company has, and will, react swiftly and purposefully against any exploitation of our number or logo.
Many of the taxi services around Australia, affiliated with 131008 or otherwise, have either developed their own smart phone application, or access a third party application, which enable their customers to install the application on their phone and to book taxis. There has also been a proliferation of customer-to-driver smart phone apps, which neither the taxi networks, the taxi associations, nor the taxi regulators endorse.
With the national 131-008 service and brand now well and truly established, the company is in an ideal position to develop a national taxi smart phone booking application – one application that lets taxi users book a taxi anywhere in Australia using their smart phone. In early 2012, the company undertook to develop such an application and the company envisages that the application will be available to every 131-008 taxi service in 2013.
Finally, on behalf of the Directors and management, I thank all members for their support and we look forward to continuing our mutually beneficial relationship.
Andrew Gilmartin
Chairman
22 November 2012
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