Stagecoach Group is facing tough times, according to its latest trading update, but remains on course to meet its goals announced in December.
Revenue growth for the 40 weeks to the end of February was -0.1% in regional bus, -4.3% in London bus, -0.6% in USA/Canada, 3.2% in UK Rail and 2.8% at Virgin Rail.
Trading at our UK Bus (regional operations) “continues to reflect the actions we took in early 2017 to adjust our pricing and services to respond to changes in customer demand,” says Stagecoach.
Vehicle miles operated were 2.9% lower. Revenue per vehicle mile grew 2.9%, journeys per vehicle mile grew 0.2% and revenue per journey increased 2.7%. “We continue to maintain our focus on controlling costs.”
The like-for-like revenue growth has been suppressed in recent weeks by the widespread snowstorms. During the most recent four-week period, like-for-like revenue declined by 2.5% from the equivalent prior year period, “illustrating the scale of the impact of these extreme weather conditions, on UK Bus
The reported revenue decrease for the UK Bus (London) is in line with expectation and reflects the impact of contracts lost in the prior year. “We remain satisfied by our performance on current year tenders for Transport for London contracts,” it adds.
