18th Oct 2012 07:00
The Go-Ahead Group plc 4 Matthew Parker Street, London, SW1H 9NPTelephone 020 7799 8999 |
Press Release
18 October 2012
THE GO-AHEAD GROUP PLC
("GO-AHEAD" OR "THE GROUP")
BUS INVESTOR EVENT ANDINTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Bus Investor EventThe Go-Ahead Group plc is hosting a Bus Investor Event this morning in which it will announce a target to organically grow bus operating profit* to £100m by 2015/2016. This will be achieved through a combination of revenue growth driven by high quality services, innovation and marketing, and cost efficiency.
No other new financial information will be disclosed at the event.
Interim Management Statement - strong trading; no change to full year expectationsGo-Ahead today announces its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 July 2012 to 17 October 2012, ahead of its Annual General Meeting on 25 October 2012.
Overall:
Strong trading has continued into the first quarter of the year and our expectations for the full year to 29 June 2013 remain unchanged.
David Brown, Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead, said:
"I am pleased to report strong growth across our regulated and deregulated bus businesses, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Group's strategy of providing high quality, cost efficient and locally focused bus services.
"We believe there is significant potential to grow this core part of our business and today have announced a target to organically grow bus operating profit* to £100m by 2015/2016.
"We remain committed to operating in the UK rail market and are pleased to report strong underlying growth in passenger revenue across our three franchises.
"Following the Department for Transport's announcement regarding the postponement of current rail franchise competitions and a review of the franchising process, Go-Ahead looks forward to working with the review team to help shape the future of UK rail franchising."The London 2012 Games took place during the first quarter of our financial year and I am really proud of the key role Go-Ahead played in helping to deliver a highly successful transport network for the Olympics and Paralympics."Whilst we are encouraged by our performance in the first quarter, we remain suitably cautious about the medium term wider economic outlook."
* excluding amortisation and exceptional items
Bus:
Deregulated:Our operations outside London have performed well, with the majority of underlying growth driven by fare paying, rather than concessionary passengers. Fare increases were introduced in the last financial year to offset the reduction in BSOG and fuel cost increases. The yield is in line with our expectations.
Revenue | Passenger journeys | |
Total | c.9% | c.6% |
Excluding acquisitions | c.5% | c.3% |
Regulated:As anticipated, revenue growth in London has been strong in the quarter as a result of increased mileage due to contract wins, the acquisition of the Northumberland Park depot in March 2012 and contractual work for the Olympics.
Revenue | Mileage | |||
Total(including Olympics) | Underlying(excluding Olympics) | Total(including Olympics) | Underlying(excluding Olympics) | |
Total | c.21% | c.14% | c.13% | c.11% |
Excluding acquisitions | c.13% | c.6% | c.6% | c.4% |
Rail:
Our rail division operates the Southern (including Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland franchises through our 65% owned subsidiary Govia.
All three franchises saw underlying growth in line with expectations in the quarter. Whilst the Olympics resulted in additional passenger revenue and passenger journeys, the profit impact was largely neutral, as anticipated.
Passenger revenue | Passenger journeys* | |||
Total(including Olympics) | Underlying*(excluding Olympics) | Total(including Olympics) | Underlying*(excluding Olympics) | |
Southern | c.9% | c.7% | c.0% | c.-1% |
Southeastern | c.16% | c.9% | c.9% | c.1% |
London Midland | c.17% | c.14% | c.7% | c.5% |
* Passenger revenue and journeys associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Games are based on estimates.Following the Department for Transport's announcement regarding the postponement of rail franchise tenders and review of rail franchising, we await further information regarding the Thameslink bid process. Assuming that the franchise process restarts before the end of our financial year we now anticipate rail bid costs of around £5m this financial year.
Outlook:
The Group remains in a good financial position with strong cash generation and a robust balance sheet, underpinning the dividend policy and allowing flexibility to pursue further value adding acquisitions.Our expectations for the full year to 29 June 2013 remain unchanged.ENDSFor further information, please contact:
The Go-Ahead Group | |
David Brown, Group Chief Executive | 020 7799 8971 |
Keith Down, Group Finance Director | 020 7799 8973 |
Holly Birch, Investor Relations Manager | 07837 612 661 |
Catherine Robertson, Investor Relations Manager | 020 7799 8984 |
Citigate Dewe Rogerson | |
Michael Berkeley | 020 7638 9571 |
Chris Barrie | |
Angharad Couch
|
A video webcast of the Bus Investor Event will be available to view on our website
www.go-ahead.com on Friday 19th October.
GO-AHEADGo-Ahead is a leading UK public transport operator, providing high quality services in the bus and rail sectors. Employing around 23,000 people across the country, over one billion passenger journeys are undertaken on our services each year. We are committed to operating our companies in a safe, socially and environmentally responsible way and are proud to have been reaccredited with Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change. In addition to the travelling public, our customers include the Department for Transport, Transport for London (TfL) and local authorities.
BUSGo-Ahead is one of the UK's largest bus operators. With a fleet of around 4,600 buses, we carry, on average, around 1.7 million passengers every day. Our operations are focused on high density commuter markets. We have a strong presence in London, with around 24 per cent market share, where we provide regulated services for TfL. We operate deregulated services in Oxford, East Anglia, the South East, Southern and North East England. We also have a yellow school bus joint venture in North America.
RAILThe rail operation, Govia, is 65% owned by Go-Ahead and 35% by Keolis. It is the busiest rail operation in the UK, responsible for nearly 30% of all UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail franchises: Southern (which includes the Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland. Southeastern operates the first and only UK domestic high speed rail service, between Kent and London.
Legal disclaimerCertain statements included in this press release contain forward-looking information concerning the Group's strategy, operations, financial performance or condition, outlook, growth opportunities or circumstances in the sectors or markets in which the Group operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve uncertainty because they depend of future circumstances, and relate to events, not all of which are within the Company's control or can be produced by the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results could differ materially from those set out in the forward-looking statements. Nothing in this press release should be construed as a profit forecast and no part of these results constitutes, or shall be taken to constitute, an invitation or inducement to invest in The Go-Ahead Group plc or any other entity, and must not be relied upon in any way in connection with any investment decision. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
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