Stagecoach unveils massive bus order

SCOTTISH transport giant Stagecoach today unveiled its biggest ever bus order as it reported another jump in profits.

The bus and train operator said it would plough £71 million into buying 584 new vehicles for its UK bus operation next year.

Stagecoach said it was "leading the way" in getting people across Britain back onto the bus as vehicle congestion on the country's roads, particularly in city centres, and environment concerns continue to be major issues.

Perth-based Stagecoach, which currently operates around 7000 buses covering around 100 towns and cities in the UK, announced the investment as it reported a nine per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £84.6m over the six months to October 31.

And the company, which is also Britain's largest tram and train franchise operator, was also upbeat about its trading prospects for the rest of its current trading year.

Chief executive Brian Souter said: "We have achieved further strong growth in our bus and rail operations.

"Our bus operations in the UK and North America are performing strongly."

And he added: "We are confident in the prospects for the rest of the year.

"We believe increasing car congestion, inward migration and a growing focus on environmental issues will provide more opportunities to attract passengers to our public transport services in the years ahead."

Total group revenue rose to £820.8m, from £752.1m, with UK bus revenues - the company's biggest revenue generator - growing 8.1 per cent to £367.1m, from £339.6m.

Like-for-like revenue growth was 7.8 per cent, while operating profit was £52.5m, from £34.1m previously.

Stagecoach, which also owns a 35 per cent stake in Scottish Citylink Coaches, also said it had benefited from stable year-on-year fuel prices and a continued focus on cost control.

Sales at its UK rail arm - which includes South Western Trains, which runs around 1600 trains a day in south-east England out of London Waterloo - rose 16.6 per cent to £322.7m against £276.8m at the same stage a year ago.

On a like-for-like basis revenue was up 15.2 per cent and operating profit was £25.3m versus £31.4m a year ago.

The company's share of profits at Virgin Rail Group (VRG), in which it has a 49 per cent holding, improved to £12.9m, from £9.2m a year earlier.

VRG runs the West Coast Trains franchise and operated the CrossCountry train service until last month.

Stagecoach operates services in the UK, Canada and United States and employs around 30,000 people.

Meanwhile, the transport titan said its metropolitan and shire operations would benefit from the addition of the bulk of its new bus investment.

Les Warneford, managing director of Stagecoach UK Bus, said: "Stagecoach is leading the way in getting Britain back on board the bus.

"We believe there is a huge opportunity to attract more and more people out of their cars and on to public transport."