The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bus firm drives ahead
Shares in public transport giant National Express leapt yesterday after the firm revealed an 87% leap in full-year pre-tax profits.
The company generated a £124.4 million pre-tax return for the year to December 31 on total revenues of £1.92 billion.
The company, which operates the Xplore Dundee bus network, said it had seen growth across all of its divisions and was entering 2016 in a “good position”.
The firm’s UK Bus arm produced a 2% increase in turnover to £286.4m, while profits grew by more than 10% to £37.5m.
Operating margin within the business increased by 100 basis points to 13.1%.
The UK Coach business returned revenues of £281.2m, while the company’s rail division moved back into the black with an operating profit of £600,000 compared to a £10.1m loss a year earlier.
CEO Dean Finch said the company had delivered a “strong set of results”.
The company, which launched in Germany and Bahrain in 2015, declared a 10% increase in the full-year dividend.