Go-Ahead hails buses for profit
LONDON buses have helped Go- Ahead Group beat profit forecasts for the year.
The FTSE 250 firm said pre-tax profits fell eight per cent to £86.2m, though this was ahead of analyst forecasts, as bus revenues rose 11.4 per cent to a record £78.2m.
Rail profits, however, fell 39 per cent to £24.3m as the operator of Southern, Southeastern and London Midland handed more franchise payments to the government.
“[T]he bus business saw a strong uptake of the smartcard payment system outside London, which has generated about £1m of revenue in less than a year, and advances in mobile-ticketing,” said David Brown.