Resilient Arriva keeps rolling on with results

Bus and train operator Arriva said today it was on track to deliver results in line with expectations. The transport company said it was resilient to the economic downturn.

The firm, with big rail and bus networks across the West Midlands and Staffordshire, has among its ventures the rail company CrossCountry which won a franchise to operate services between Wolverhampton and Manchester, among others, from Virgin Trains last November. The company said in a statement it had bus and rail operations in 12 countries.

It has a £12 billion order book and more than 60 per cent of revenues from government contracts.

Arriva said in a statement: "While no business is wholly immune from current economic uncertainties, the group's diversified nature gives it a high degree of resilience and stability."

In a statement on its website, Arriva said group revenue increased by more than 57 per cent year-on-year in the nine months ending September 30, reflecting growth in mainland Europe and the effect of the CrossCountry rail franchise.

Year-on-year revenue in its mainland Europe division is up by 51 per cent for the first nine months.

Its CrossCountry rail franchise saw like-for-like passenger revenue increase by 11.9 per cent for the period from January 6 to October 11. Arriva Trains Wales passenger revenues have increased by 12 per cent for the same period year-on-year.

In its UK regional bus business, revenue for the first nine months of the year was up 6.3 per cent year-on-year.

Shares, down 27 per cent this year, closed yesterday at 576.5p, valuing the company at £1.14billion.

Arriva also said its financial position remained robust and it had already contracted to buy 82 per cent of its fuel requirement for 2009, although at a substantially higher price than currently available.

Arriva is one of the largest transport services organisations in Europe, employing more than 40,000 people and delivering more than one billion passenger journeys.