25th Apr 2013 07:00
The Go-Ahead Group plc 4 Matthew Parker Street, London, SW1H 9NPTelephone 020 7799 8999 |
Press Release
25 April 2013
THE GO-AHEAD GROUP PLC
("GO-AHEAD" OR "THE GROUP")
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Resilient performance; full year expectations remain unchanged
The Go-Ahead Group plc today announces its Interim Management Statement for the period from 30 December 2012 to 24 April 2013. The figures in this statement are reported on a year to date basis from 1 July 2012 to 30 March 2013.
David Brown, Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead, said:
"I am pleased to report a resilient performance across our operations, with all of our companies seeing growth in commercial revenue in the year to date.
"Our bus division continues to perform well in a challenging economic environment and we remain on track to achieve our target to organically grow bus operating profit to £100m by 2015/16. Our growth trends are sector leading driven by our high quality, locally-focused operations and our London bus business remains best in class.
"We are delighted to have been shortlisted to bid for the Docklands Light Railway, partnering with Colas Rail Ltd. They are an ideal infrastructure partner for us and, combined with our experience of operating in London on busy commuter networks, I believe we are well placed to deliver a successful bid.
"At the end of March the DfT announced its long-term plans for rail franchising. I am pleased that the Government intends to restart the Thameslink franchise bid process in September this year and I welcome the opportunity to agree extended contract terms for London Midland to June 2017 and Southeastern to June 2018.
"Overall, I am pleased with the Group's performance and remain confident that we will deliver a full year result in line with our expectations."
Bus:
Deregulated:Our operations outside London have performed well in the year to date, delivering sector-leading revenue growth. Solid underlying growth in fare paying passengers of over 2% more than offset a decline in concessionary passenger volumes, largely due to adverse weather in our third quarter. The revenue impact of lower concessionary journeys was mitigated as the majority of concessionary revenue is fixed.
Year to date growth rates:
Revenue | Passenger journeys | |
Total | c.9% | c.4% |
Excluding acquisitions | c.4.5% | c.1% |
Regulated:Our London operations continue to perform strongly despite the expected slower growth in the third quarter as we lap the introduction of new contracts during the prior year.
Year to date growth rates*:
Revenue | Mileage | |||
Total(including Olympics) | Underlying(excluding Olympics) | Total(including Olympics) | Underlying(excluding Olympics) | |
Total | c.15% | c.13% | c.10.5% | c.9.5% |
Excluding acquisitions | c.8% | c.6% | c.4% | c.3% |
Rail:
Our rail division operates the Southern (including Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland franchises through our 65% owned subsidiary Govia.
Our three franchises performed satisfactorily despite being impacted by the adverse weather in our third quarter.
As expected, revenue yield in the quarter has been more modest than in the first half of the year, as January 2013 fare increases were lower than last year.
Last week, the Group was pleased to announce it had been shortlisted to bid for Docklands Light Railway with infrastructure partner, Colas Rail Ltd. It is anticipated that the successful bidder will be announced in Spring 2014, with the contract commencing in September 2014.
Year to date growth rates*:
Passenger revenue** | Passenger journeys** | |||
Total(including Olympics) | Underlying(excluding Olympics) | Total(including Olympics) | Underlying(excluding Olympics) | |
Southern | c.4% | c.3% | c.0% | c.-1% |
Southeastern | c.9% | c.7% | c.4% | c.2% |
London Midland | c.12% | c.11% | c.1% | c.1% |
**Passenger revenue and journeys associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Games are based on estimates.
Outlook:Overall, trading in the year to date has been resilient and we remain confident that we will deliver a full year result in line with our expectations.
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 value-adding opportunities. We continue to focus on our key strengths of providing high quality, locally-focused and innovative transport services.
Our £100m bus operating profit target excludes amortisation, exceptional items and the impact of IAS19 revised
*As we progress through the year, the impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on revenue and volume growth rates is diluted.
ENDS
Go-Ahead will be hosting a series of meetings with analysts throughout the day.
For 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
|
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 nearly two 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 small yellow school bus joint venture in North America.
RAILThe rail operation, Govia, is 65 per cent owned by Go-Ahead and 35 per cent by Keolis. It is the busiest rail operation in the UK, responsible for nearly 30 per cent of all UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail franchises: Southern (which includes the Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland. In December 2009, Southeastern began operating the UK's first high speed domestic rail service between Kent and London, significantly reducing journey times.
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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