Stagecoach on track to hit full year earnings target

LONDON (Reuters) - Transport operator Stagecoach said it would hit its annual earnings target after especially strong growth at its British rail and North American bus businesses in the last year.

The Scotland-based company said on Tuesday that its British rail business reported a 5.4 percent rise in underlying sales in the 48 weeks to the end of March, while Virgin Rail, which Stagecoach runs with Richard Branson's Virgin Group, delivered a 3.1 percent sales rise.

Its North American bus business, which includes yellow school bus services and Megabus, grew sales by 9.7 percent in the last 11 months, Stagecoach said.

"The overall profitability of the group has remained good and there is no change to our expected adjusted earnings per share for the year," Stagecoach said in a statement.

The company is expected to report average earnings per share of 28.61 pence for the year to the end of April, up from 25 pence in the previous year, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll of 17 analysts.

It is that solid performance that has sent shares in the group up over 70 percent since 2009.

The group's British regional bus business also delivered a solid result, with sales up 3.6 percent, while revenues at its London bus operation were up 1.2 percent.

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; editing by Kate Holton)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stagecoach-track-hit-full-earnings-target-064708682.html

ncaa bracket bracket Jason Terry Steubenville rape Beyonce Bow Down Jason Molina UCF