Booming buses drive Stagecoach

LONDON commuters have helped fuel surging profits at Stagecoach despite the impact of a rampant oil price on its buses. Revenue from London buses jumped 22% in the six months to 31 October, driven by Mayor Ken Livingstone's campaign to get more of them on the streets. Meanwhile, its South West Trains franchise into Waterloo saw turnover rise 8.3%.

But Stagecoach highlighted its bus division outside the capital as being the reason for greatest cheer.

For years, its provincial buses have seen passenger numbers and turnover from fares falling or growing at a snail's pace. Today it reported revenue growth of 6.3% thanks to new routes, cheaper fares and the low-cost, inter-city megabus.com.

Results today highlighted further the success of chief executive Brian Souter, who came out of retirement two years ago to rescue the company after a disastrous foray into the US.

Pre-tax profits for the six months were £66.5m, against £61.4m a year ago, on turnover of £886m against £964m, trimmed by the sale of its Coach USA business.

The company declared in June that Britain's privatised transport industry had been revived and returned £240m to shareholders. Souter and Ann Gloag, his sister, shared £60m.

Today Stagecoach revealed that it is planning to install a hi-tech navigation system on its buses to ensure they stick to their routes with pinpoint accuracy.