National Express motors on with "strong set of results"

TRANSPORT group National Express drove profits up by 25% as it motors onwards.

The Digbeth-headquartered group added £50m revenues to reach £1.92bn in 2015, helped by new German rail and Bahrain bus contracts.

Its normalised pre-tax profits rose by one-quarter to £150.1m, while statutory figures showed a much greater increase, of 87%, because of the effect of exceptional items in 2014.

Dean Finch, National Express group chief executive said: “This strong set of results demonstrates that our focus on operational excellence is generating excellent returns for our shareholders and customers.

“I am pleased that every division has increased revenue, helping to drive overall group profit growth and another strong free cash flow performance.”

The group plans to increase its full-year dividend by 10% and it retains a “confident outlook”.
 
“We continue to draw on our international reputation for operational excellence to expand new market opportunities,” said Mr Finch. “We have an active pipeline of bids within Europe and the Middle East that will continue to deliver new growth opportunities.”