19th Dec 2005 07:00
National Express Group PLC19 December 2005 For announcement at 0700 hours on Monday 19 December 2005 National Express Group PLC Pre-close trading update National Express Group today reports on trading for the year to 31 December2005, prior to entering its close period. We are pleased to report that tradingfor the year remains in line with our expectations. On 1 December, we completed the Alsa transaction. The integration has startedwell and we are excited by our opportunities in this new market. Our UK divisions have performed well. As we announced in October, weexperienced revenue loss following the July terrorist attacks but have takenaction to reduce the impact on profits. We are continuing discussions with theDepartment for Transport on Central Trains and Silverlink to extend thesefranchises to November 2007 and hope to conclude negotiations early next year. Our bus and coach operations in the UK have delivered further growth this yearand have benefited from our focus on reliability and customer service. In North America, we had a successful school start-up and we continue to believethat there are further opportunities for growth within the student bus market. Whilst the Group faces increased fuel costs, prospects for next year remain inline with our expectations and the Board will continue to utilise its cash flowto enhance shareholder returns. The Group's preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2005 will beannounced on Thursday 9 March 2006. - E N D S - • There will be an analyst conference call at 0900 hours on Monday 19 December 2005 - further details are available from Sara Freeman at Financial Dynamics on 020 7269 7134. For further information: Adam Walker/Nicola MarsdenNational Express Group PLC 020 7529 2000 Andrew Dowler/Ben FosterFinancial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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