UK, Germany drive rise in National Express Q1 revenue

Transport operator National Express reported a rise in first-quarter revenues driven by an improvement in UK buses and German rail.

Revenues rose 25% to £774.4m, in line with expectations, the company said on Wednesday, adding that its Spanish subsidiary ALSA reported strong growth, particularly in long haul and Morocco.

In the UK, revenue grew 27% year on year, with scheduled coach revenue up 87% on the prior year, reflecting the recovery from the Covid related network shutdown in prior year and the impact of the rail strikes in the UK.

"During the quarter, the business was impacted by the now settled UK Bus drivers' strike, and the associated pay settlement. Whilst that pay settlement was higher than expected, we are working internally, and with our partners Transport for West Midlands, towards mitigating the impact of these and other cost increases," the company said.

The German rail business rose 10% on 2022, reflecting the continuing operation of the Lot 1 contract on an emergency basis, with plans "well progressed" to transition to the 10-year contract from late 2023.

National Express said it expected a 13% average price increases on US bus contracts expiring in the current bid season.

It added that it was also implementing a wide-ranging productivity improvement and cost-reduction programme in response to ongoing industry and economic uncertainties, without cutting front-line roles or capacity for growth.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com