City briefs; Brooks Macdonald, National Express, Hill & Smith

National Express; Following the lifting of restrictions, National Express have reported constant revenue growth of 15.5% up to £2.17bn.

With the increase in travel, National Express has felt a statutory loss before tax of £84.9m, which is an improvement of £360m from the previous financial year.

It also acknowledges the counter-offer for Stagecoach yesterday by global investor DWS Infrastructure and says the board is considering its options and will update the market in due course.

In addition, the firm says it has a current pipeline of growth opportunities amounting to £1.5 billion of revenue across our territories which is principally organic.

Ignacio Garat, National Express Group Chief Executive said: “Mobility restrictions are lifting across our markets and people are travelling again. But we cannot return to ‘travel as usual’ if we are going to meet the pressing needs of COP 26. In 2021 we launched our Evolve Strategy with a clear vision and purpose, to be the world’s premier shared mobility operator, leading modal shift from cars to public transport.

“Modal shift is a necessity for the planet (pre-pandemic, cars generated 70% of surface transport emissions in the EU) and good for our business (a 1% modal shift from cars to buses would increase bus passenger journeys by 23%). We have translated Evolve into detailed action plans in each of our businesses and we are already seeing the benefits.”

Brooks Macdonald; moved to a new base in Birmingham at the start of 2022.

In its half-year results, the investment management firm reported an increase in revenue by 10.7% to £61.9m which it accredits to its acquisition of Lloyds Banking Group’s Channel Islands funds and wealth management business and an improving positive net flows of 4% totalling £326m.

Statutory profit before tax fell by 6.4% to £13.2 million (H1 FY21: £14.1 million), with the decrease driven by an exceptional gain in H1 FY21 related to the Lloyds Channel Islands acquisition.

Andrew Shepherd, CEO said: “I am pleased to report that we delivered sustained strong financial performance for the first half-year with positive net flows and record underlying profit margin of over 28%, enabling us to increase our interim dividend once again by 13%. These results clearly show growing client demand for our products and services alongside continued cost discipline.”

Hill & Smith; the international group creating sustainable infrastructure and safe transport announced a 7% increase in revenue to £705m in its preliminary results.

The firm says it has had a strong recovery and is trading ahead of 2019 levels. Despite ongoing industry-wide supply chain and inflationary challenges, Hill & Smith have reported a 43% increase in profit before tax from £35m to £50.9m

Paul Simmons, Chief Executive, said:
“In my first full year as CEO I am pleased with the financial and strategic progress we have made. We set out an ambitious agenda a year ago and our people and businesses have responded positively to this, for which I would like to thank them. 2021 was not without its challenges, particularly supply chain and inflationary pressures. The Group navigated these well which is testament to the resilience of our autonomous operating model. Creating sustainable infrastructure and safe transport is core to our purpose and over the course of the year, we have developed an ESG strategy, setting out our path to carbon net zero by 2040.

“In 2022 we expect to make good progress despite the ongoing headwinds and geopolitical uncertainties. In the longer term I am excited about what the future holds given our exposure to the positive macro trends of sustainable infrastructure and safe transport.”