20 February 2014

Good performance in bus and rail; overall results in line with management expectations

Business overview
  • Overall results in line with management expectations, full year expectations are unchanged
  • Bus operating profit up 14.7% to £40.6m
  • On course to achieve bus operating profit target of £100m by 2015/16
  • Record passenger numbers in bus and rail
  • Profit before tax rose 30.8% to £40.3m
  • Bids submitted for the Thameslink and Crossrail franchise competitions during the period
  • Strong cash management allowing increased investment and reduced net debt
  • Maintained half year dividend at 25.5p
Financial summary: H1'14
£m 		Restated*
H1'13
£m 		Increase/
(Decrease)
£m 		Increase/
(Decrease)
%
Revenue 1,370.0 1,296.6 73.4 5.7
Operating profit 51.1 42.1 9.0 21.4
Operating profit margin (%) 3.7% 3.2% 0.5ppts
Net finance costs (7.6) (8.0) 0.4 5.0
Profit before tax and amortisation 43.5 34.1 9.4 27.6
Profit before tax 40.3 30.8 9.5 30.8
Adjusted earnings per share (p) (see note 7) 83.3p 58.3p 25.0p 42.9
Proposed dividend per share (p) 25.5p 25.5p - -
H1'14
£m 		Restated*
H1'13
£m 		Increase/
(Decrease)
£m
Cashflow generated from operations 120.3 117.0 3.3
Free cashflow** 52.8 56.5 (3.7)
Net debt** (70.5) (64.1) -
Adjusted net debt (295.6) (277.1) -
Adjusted net debt/EBITDA+ (twelve month rolling basis) 1.73x 1.67x -

David Brown, Group Chief Executive, commented:

"In October 2012 we set out a three year plan of growth and business improvement with the aim of raising the performance of our UK bus business to £100 million in operating profit.

"We are making good progress, and 16 months into that timetable, our planning assumptions remain valid and we are on course for our target.

"Meanwhile we maintain our long-term commitment to rail and were pleased to have submitted our bids for the Thameslink and Crossrail franchise competitions during the period.

"The sustained efforts of our 23,500 people, backed by substantial targeted investments in technology, fleet and new facilities, are strengthening our business by improving services for all our customers.

"Our use of smart and mobile ticketing data helps deepen our understanding of our customers' needs and allows us to continue to develop and improve our capabilities, to make our bus and rail services more attractive and more convenient.

"With record passenger numbers, effective cash management and a strong balance sheet, Go-Ahead is in good shape with excellent growth prospects."

Half Year Results in full

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, Head of Investor Relations 07837 612 661
Citigate Dewe Rogerson 020 7638 9571
Michael Berkeley
Chris Barrie
Eleni Menikou

David Brown, Group Chief Executive and Keith Down, Group Finance Director will be hosting a presentation for analysts at 9.00am today (20 February 2014) at Investec, 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP.

A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available on Go-Ahead's website - www.go-ahead.com.
The presentation slides will be added to Go-Ahead's website at around 7:30am today.


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