National Express accelerates revenues as it gears up for Silicon Valley
National Express accelerated revenues in the first quarter of 2019 as it prepares to take a 60% stake in Silicon Valley’s shuttle service in a £64.5m deal.
The Birmingham-based group, which announced in April it was taking a stake in the US-based employee shuttle company WeDriveU which serves many of the largest companies in Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area, saw group revenues rise 8.3% year on year between January and April.
National Express’ Spanish subsidiary, Alsa, had a particularly strong start to the year, with revenue increasing by 11.8% in constant currency, while in the UK, its coach business delivered growth of 7% but the bus division reported growth of just 1.8%.
North America increased revenue by 8.3% in constant currency, despite the impact of school closures after particularly severe snow, the company said.
National Express said its German rail services continue to perform well, with underlying revenue growth of 5.2%. The mobilisation for its next contract – the first of three on the Rhine-Ruhr Express routes – is on track ahead of its start in June 2019.
Dean Finch, group chief executive, said: “I am pleased all of our divisions have started 2019 in a positive manner and we have seen strong trading over the important Easter period. Organic revenue growth has been secured across all of our increasingly diversified international portfolio. As our acquisition of a majority stake in WeDriveU demonstrates, this diversified international portfolio also continues to present new opportunities for further expansion, which we pursue when they meet our strict financial criteria.
“We will continue to focus on operational excellence to drive shareholder value, by both delivering high quality services for our customers and generating cash to invest in technological modernisation and future expansion. We remain on track to meet our full year profit and cash flow expectations.”
