The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Bus firm moves to extend fare drop scheme
TRANSPORT: Xplore Dundee parent in bid to boost passenger numbers in English operation
Public transport group National Express is extending a fares reduction trial after seeing a drop in revenues in its UK bus business.
The West Midlands-based group, which operates the main Dundee bus network under the Xplore Dundee fascia, told investors that challenging market conditions had resulted in a 0.5% fall in revenues within its UK bus division between the turn of the year and April 30.
While it said it had seen a slight improvement in passenger numbers in recent weeks, the company confirmed it was widening out its fare reduction trial from its two test grounds.
The move will be across its West Midlands operations but, if successful, it could eventually impact on its operations in Dundee.
“UK Bus has seen positive results from the Sandwell and Dudley fare reductions, with passenger growth already sufficient to yield overall revenue growth in the local area,” the group said in an investor update.
“We will shortly extend the lessons from these early successes further across the West Midlands.
“A recent restructuring – including management changes to bring UK Coach’s revenue expertise in to UK Bus – is designed to target additional revenue growth initiatives as well as cost efficiencies.”
Overall, National Express said the group had maintained progress made last year with overall revenues from continuing operations 5.4% higher on a constant currency basis.
The group said it had benefited from a mix of organic growth, a boost from a number of bolt-on acquisitions and “significant foreign exchange tailwinds” and was on track to hit profit expectations for the full year.
Group chief executive Dean Finch said: “I am pleased we have maintained our strong momentum into 2017, with a good revenue performance driven by both organic growth and the benefit of our recent acquisitions.
“Our diversified portfolio is providing broad-based growth that is also providing additional opportunities for further expansion. We will continue to focus on operational excellence to drive our growth by both delivering high standard services for our customers and generating cash and returns that we can invest in future expansion.
“These opportunities will continue to be sought in a disciplined manner and we will only pursue them if they meet our strict financial criteria. We remain on track to meet our full-year profit and cash flow expectations.”