Stagecoach

[whole diary]

[martyjon]

Heard on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) business news that Stagecoach have disposed of their US interests to concentrate in their UK^▸ (United Kingdom) operations. Can't be a very big US operation as price tag received for business is in the £200 - £299 million range, my memory block didn't record the figure quoted by the Beebs journalist.

[stuving]

Stagecoach's North American business was about 20% of the whole (based on revenue), so less important than First Group's. The sale price of $M271.4 is about the same as the revenue of £M246 in the latest accounts, where its operating profit was 6.6% - better than rail or London Buses but below the regional buses that make up nearly half of their income.

Edit to read in millions of £/$

[Surrey 455]

Stagecoach's North American business was about 20% of the whole (based on revenue), so less important than First Group's. The sale price of $271.4 is about the same as the revenue of £246 in the latest accounts, where its operating profit was 6.6% - better than rail or London Buses but below the regional buses that make up nearly half of their income.

A few hundred pounds or a few hundred million pounds?

[stuving]

Stagecoach's North American business was about 20% of the whole (based on revenue), so less important than First Group's. The sale price of $271.4 is about the same as the revenue of £246 in the latest accounts, where its operating profit was 6.6% - better than rail or London Buses but below the regional buses that make up nearly half of their income.

A few hundred pounds or a few hundred million pounds?

Having carefully checked, I find that it was actually millions of £. Who would ever have thought that?

[grahame]

From Daily Business

Stagecoach is considering a bid for rival transport group Arriva which has been put up for sale by its German owner.

FTSE 250-listed Stagecoach is said to be particularly interested in buying Arriva’s bus business, according to City sources.

Arriva – the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s largest bus operator – was acquired in 2010 for £1.5 billion by Deutsche Bahn and handles all of the German operator’s regional transport services outside Germany. It generated revenues of €5.44 billion (£4.7 billion) last year.

Arriva operates more than 5,000 buses in Britain and also has divisions across Europe. It runs rail franchise Northern, which has been hit by a long-running dispute with the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union over the role of guards on trains.

[jamestheredengine]

From Daily Business

Stagecoach is considering a bid for rival transport group Arriva which has been put up for sale by its German owner.

FTSE 250-listed Stagecoach is said to be particularly interested in buying Arriva’s bus business, according to City sources.

Arriva – the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s largest bus operator – was acquired in 2010 for £1.5 billion by Deutsche Bahn and handles all of the German operator’s regional transport services outside Germany. It generated revenues of €5.44 billion (£4.7 billion) last year.

Arriva operates more than 5,000 buses in Britain and also has divisions across Europe. It runs rail franchise Northern, which has been hit by a long-running dispute with the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union over the role of guards on trains.

The CMA will enjoy this one, no doubt.

[rogerw]

The CMA will enjoy this one, no doubt.

Especially considering that they opposed Stagecoach taking over First's north Devon operations, much smaller in scale.

[rogerpatenall]

I seem to remember hearing that, at one time, Stagecoach were the biggest operator of school bus services in the US - which is a large operation, albeit at probably a very thin margin.