Revenues up 3% for Virgin Rail says JV partner Stagecoach
TRANSPORT group Stagecoach, part owner of Virgin Rail Group, has said the operation continues to make progress under its new operating arrangements.
The Virgin Rail joint venture agreed a contract in December 2012 with the Department for Transport for the continued operation of the West Coast Main Line franchise until November 2014.
It has also confirmed its intention to re-bid for the contract when the franchise is re-tendered in two years’ time.
In a trading update, Stagecoach said that in the 40 weeks to February 3, 2013, like-for-like revenue growth for Virgin Rail was 3.3%.
Elsewhere, it said its UK Rail division remained shortlisted for the new Great Western rail franchise, the arrangements for which have been amended following the DfT’s revision of the franchise tendering process.
Overall, Stagecoach said its current trading was good and the prospects for the group were positive.
“The overall profitability of the group has remained good and there has been no significant change to our expected adjusted earnings per share for the year ending April 30, 2013. Recent extreme weather in North America and the ongoing costs of our continued focus on building our business in the increasingly competitive North American intercity coach market has resulted in us lowering our short-term operating profit expectations for the division,” it said.
“However at a group level, the impact of this has been largely offset by continued good trading in our UK businesses and lower than previously expected finance charges. We remain excited by the long-term prospects for our businesses in North America as we continue to develop the business and the megabus.com brand.”
