National Express trading ahead of expectations, H1 profit jumps
National Express reported a jump in first-half profit on Thursday, with revenue growth in all of its main divisions and current trading ahead of expectations.
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In the six months to 30 June, normalised pre-tax profit rose 13.8% to £114.6m on revenue of £1.34bn, up 10.5% from the same period last year. The interim dividend was lifted by 10% to 5.16p a share.
The normalised basis shows the performance of the business before intangible amortisation for acquired businesses and profit from discontinued operations in the prior year.
The FTSE 250 transport operator said revenue grew in all divisions. ALSA saw 11.7% growth at constant currency to €442.1m, while revenue in North America was 8.2% higher at $812.3m and UK revenue pushed up 4.2% to £285.3m.
Group free cash flow for the period increased to £95.6m from £85.2m, while net debt rose to £1.28bn from £922.1m.
Chief executive Dean Finch said: "I am delighted to report another record set of results, primarily driven by organic revenue, profit and margin growth in every division. Group free cash also grew strongly. We are currently trading ahead of expectations despite the impact of unprecedented bad weather in North America.
"The prospects for growth are strong. We continue to drive improvements in our core bus and coach businesses, add significant new contracts like Rabat and expand in newer markets such as Switzerland and US shuttle, through our recent WeDriveU acquisition."
At 0930 BST, the shares were up 3.7% at 440.40p.