Bus and rail operator Stagecoach has said that its first-quarter trading beat company expectations, despite recent bad weather in UK causing localised disruption to some of its services.
In a trading statement ahead of its annual general meeting on Friday, the transport provider said that it had made a "good start" to the current financial year after achieving "stronger than anticipated" revenue growth during the three months to mid-July.
"Although severe weather has caused localised disruption to parts of our UK operations, revenue trends remain encouraging," Stagecoach stressed.
The Perth-based group revealed that a strong performance by its UK rail division led growth over the 12 weeks to July 21st, with like-for-like revenues up 15 per cent.
Like-for-like revenues at Virgin Rail, in which Stagecoach has a 49 per cent stake, also climbed 13.4 per cent over the period.
Revenues for Stagecoach's UK bus division were also up 7.6 per cent, while in North America like-for-like revenues climbed by 4.3 per cent.
Looking ahead, Stagecoach emphasised that its outlook remained "positive" based on its current trading performance.
The transport group, which was awarded the East Midlands rail franchise in June, said that it was progressing with plans to commence operations under the contract on November 11th.
Stagecoach said that both the East Midlands franchise and its operation of the Manchester Metrolink tram network, which it began operating last month, would make "positive contributions" to the company's second-half performance.
Digg 
Delicious 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Google 
Technorati 
Netvouz