 London's congestion charge has boosted bus travel |
Transport group Stagecoach has said it is seeing strong growth in its UK bus and rail operations, despite reporting a fall in half-year profits. The company said operating profits before one-off items for the six months to October dropped 11% to �76.9m.
Stagecoach said the decline reflected the sale of its Hong Kong bus business Citybus in June.
The firm has been refocusing on its UK transport interests, and has also sold off parts of its Coach USA business.
Congestion boon
The Perth-based group said turnover from its bus operations across the UK had risen 8.2% to �317.9m, with more passengers opting for Stagecoach services - particularly in London following the introduction of the Congestion Charge.
It also said revenues and passenger volumes in its rail business, which includes South West Trains, had grown strongly.
Chief executive Brian Souter said : "These are a strong set of results and reflect the further significant progress we have made.
"Our growth prospects are good and our innovative approach to attracting passengers to public transport is beginning to deliver good results."
Pre-tax profits before one-off items fell 20% to �60.3m, which was slightly better than analysts' forecasts.
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