British public transport operator Stagecoach Group Plc (SGC.L) Wednesday reported a sharp increase in first-half profit, helped by revenue growth in its bus and rail operations. The company said it has made a good start to the second half of the year and overall trading is in line with its expectations.
Looking ahead, Stagecoach sees good growth potential for its transport operations in the UK and North America, and believes the outlook to be positive.
Chief Executive, Sir Brian Souter stated, "Our success is built on strong partnerships across our bus and rail networks...Passenger revenue growth remains good on our UK rail networks and we have further developed the alliance with Network Rail at South West Trains."
For the first half ended October 31, 2012, the company posted a pre-tax profit of 116.1 million pounds, higher than 90 million pounds in the previous year. Excluding intangible asset expenses and exceptional items, pre-tax profit was 123.7 million pounds, while the company posted 88.7 million pounds last year.
On a per share basis, earnings climbed to 15.4 pence from 10.3 pence per share in the previous year. Adjusted earnings for the recent period was 16.5 pence per share.
Revenues for the six-month period improved to 1.4 billion pounds from 1.29 billion pounds in the same period last year. Group like-for-like revenues were up 5.9 percent year-over-year.
The board has also declared an interim dividend of 2.6 pence per share, up 8.3 percent from last year, to shareholders of record on February 8, 2013, payable on March 6.
SGC.L is currently trading at 301.50 pence, up 9.80 pence or 3.36 percent, on a volume of 553,938 shares on the LSE.
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