The Department of Transportation has signed access to an online monitoring and analytics service that will allow officials to track the financial performance of transportation firms, including tracking “companies in distress”.
Recently published procurement information shows that DfT recently signed a two-year contract with S&P Global, a financial data and analysis firm best known as the world’s largest credit rating agency.
The agreement, which took effect on May 11 and is valued at £ 76,000, provides that the company will provide the department with access to its Capital IQ Pro product. The contract notice states that the online tool, which will be used by government officials in the DfT corporate finance group, will provide users with a “web platform for surveying company and financial market data, as well as an Excel add-on that allows advanced data import and manipulation ”.
The goal of the collaboration is to give officials an insight into the finances of commercial operators providing public transport services, including state-funded services such as buses and trains, and fully commercially supplied – but regulated – sectors such as air transport.
“The goal is to support modal teams by offering monitoring and analysis of financial data on key transport operators,” the award said in a statement. “Some form of obtaining, surveying and presenting financial data at the company level is needed to provide an effective ‘monitoring’ service.”
It added: “Areas of analysis where we use company-level data include: transaction analysis and commentary [and] M&A (e.g. National Express’s [proposed merger with] Stagecoach); monitoring companies in distress ([because of] CORONIVAL INFECTION COVID [and] Brexit, but also airlines regularly in the normal course of business); property analysis; stock market analysis, for example, comparing the activities of the transport sector with the wider market; [and] assistance to commercial teams with individual financial assessments ”.
According to the S&P website, Capital IQ Pro offers users access to data on a range of issues taken from a variety of sources. This includes financial reports for both private and public firms, information on supply chains, forecasts from experts, credit ratings, price information and the latest news.
