Revenues up 11% for National Express as acquisitions pay dividends
BIRMINGHAM-based public transport group, National Express, has made a strong start to the year with revenue for the first four months seeing an 11% increase on the same period last year.
The company said the business had benefited from the effect of recent acquisitions and the start of a lucrative new German rail contract.
In a trading update, the company said that after adjusting for these new operations, revenue was up 4% on an underlying basis.
In addition, all divisions achieved an increase in revenue, supported by total underlying passenger growth across the group of 3%.
The company said it now remained on target to meet profit expectations for the full year.
Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive, said: “I am pleased that we have carried our strong momentum from 2015 into the first third of this year, achieving growth in passenger numbers and an increase in revenues across all divisions.
“Our established businesses continue to grow, year-on-year, and our new businesses in Germany and Bahrain are already carrying millions of passengers, through a combination of innovation, partnership and customer service, underpinned by a relentless focus on operational excellence.
“We also believe this experience helps position us well for other emerging opportunities.”
He said the successes of the new acquisitions convinced the company that its decision to diversify into new markets had been the right one.
“We are building a business with a balanced risk profile and limited exposure to individual contracts. In North America, for example, over 90% of our revenue comes from contracts we have held on average for more than 10 years and where we wish to retain these contracts, we have consistently secured a success rate in excess of 95%,” added Mr Finch.
“We will also continue to seek out long-term and capex (capital expenditure) -light opportunities which meet our strict financial criteria. We remain on track to meet our full year profit and cash flow expectations.”
