Mixed fortunes for the black cabs of London (and elsewhere) today. It seems weekend plans at one taxi-making firm are being put on hold, while champagne corks are popping at another.
Eco City Vehicles, the developer and supplier behind the Mercedes Vito Euro V black cabs (those are the ones that look like minibuses and seat six people), has seen revenues jump 41% in the first six months of the year to £16.4m, with underlying profits of £800,000.
The company said the boost is due to an increase in sales of its black cab offering, which has vastly superior mileage to its rival, and has even been endorsed by Transport for London for its green credentials.
The firm's share of the new London licenses taxi market is up to 38.3% from 21.1% as a result.
Meanwhile, over at rival firm Manganese Bronze, the company has until 6.30pm tonight to publish its long-awaited half year results.
The AIM listed firm was forced to delay its hoped-for publishing date after a £3.9m accounting error was found, linked to a new computer system installed a few years back.
It could not have come at a worse time for the struggling company, which revealed losses with be substantially higher than the £700,000 half year loss in 2011.
During the last 12 months the company has also seen a fall in the number of UK orders, and had to delay a major delivery to Azerbaijan because of a shortage of funds due to the eurozone crisis.
If bosses don't publish the results by tonight, the company's shares will be suspended from the junior stock market.
Eco City is up 1.2% at 1.93p, while Manganese Bronze is flat at 10.9p, although its shares have plummeted nearly 60% since its August profit warning.
