£1.31m loss for A55 company responsible for Menai Bridge repairs
REPAIR bills for the Menai Suspension Bridge made a big dent in the bottom line of the company responsible for maintaining it. A total of £7.19 million was set aside for emergency works on the bridge, of which £5.073 million was allocated for repairs carried out in autumn 2023.
The money was earmarked for the bridge after it closed in October 2022 due to serious concerns about its structural integrity. Accounts for UK Highways A55 Ltd show that, in the year to March 2023, it led to an annual loss after taxation of £1.31 million
Despite this setback, accounts for UK Highways A55 Ltd show the business remains highly profitable, with last year’s losses the first since 2012. Since the company won the contract to build and run the Anglesey A55 extension to Holyhead in 1998, total profits after tax have come to £42.26 million.
In the year to March 2023, traffic levels rose by 2.3% for cars and 4.7% for HGVS. As a result, “shadow toll” revenue paid by the Welsh Government rose again to £19.85m. So far, UK Highways A55 Ltd has received £331.1m in tolls since 1999.
By the time the 30-year deal to build and maintain the road expires in 2028, the total bill to the taxpayer may exceed £400m – some four times the initial £101m price tag for constructing the Anglesey extension.
The Welsh Government has consistently blamed Tony Blair’s UK Labour Government for agreeing the contract under a “now discredited form” of Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
To finance the 31km dual-carriageway on Anglesey, UK Highways A55 Ltd borrowed £109m from a consortium of banks. That debt was due to be repaid in December 2023, so the final years of the deal to run the road and Menai Strait bridges should be the most lucrative.
However unexpected events, such as the Covid pandemic when traffic levels plunged, and extra maintenance costs, could hole the accounts, as was seen in 2011. Losses occurred when pavement defects were identified in surveys of the Anglesey extension.
Over 11 years, the total bill for pavement repairs costs came to £18.92m, far exceeding repair costs incurred for the Menai Suspension Bridge so far. Directors sought to recover these costs from the “designer” of the Anglesey A55 and in May 2014 the dispute was settled out of court.
In the current financial year, £9.39m has been set aside for “major maintenance”. This is over and above the provision made for repairs to hangers holding up Telford’s Grade I-listed bridge. With other improvements, these are due to be completed by March 2025 in time for the structure’s 200th anniversary the following year.
Despite the cost of this work, directors were satisfied with the company’s performance in 2022-23. Safety on the network section it manages is considered “satisfactory”.
In the company’s most recent accounts, the directors said: “Road safety performance has consistently exceeded the performance of the whole of Wales and this has resulted in a positive Safety Performance adjustment for every year of operation to date.”
Neither are penalty points a major concern – these are awarded by Cardiff for “poor or substandard” performance.
“The project consistently produces acceptable results and few penalty points are accumulated at any one time,” said the directors.
The parent company of UK Highways A55 Ltd is London-based Equitix Fund V LP.
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