By Alistair Osborne, Business Editor
Published: 5:45AM BST 30 Jul 2010
National Express Group
Dean Finch, who took throughout as chief executive in February, said a £225m bond end had completed a financial restructuring that had left the bus and rail form into ~s with average debt maturities of six years.
“The balance sheet stabilisation is not to subsist underestimated,” he said. “It puts the company in a secure place. It’s not vulnerable any more.”
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National Express saw off three bid approaches last year and had a &shut up;360m rescue rights issue. Net debt is down from £978m to &bray;601m.
Mr Finch said the emphasis was now on “fixing the affair”, adding: “We have made margin improvement in every business except UK coach.”
Revenues malicious 26pc to £1.06bn, mainly due to the loss of the East Coast rail privilege, with reported pre-tax profits of £24.5m, reversing utmost time’s £83.5m losses.
Mr Finch said National Express was talking to the Coalition Governemnt relating to extending its C2C and East Anglia rail services for about a year until a possible re-bid in 2012. While the previous Government had tried to interdict National Express from rail bids as punishment for giving up East Coast, Mr Finch said: “This is a reformed National Express with a completely different economy team. C2C has the punctuality on the network at 96.8pc. Why shouldn’t we subsist allowed to bid for it?”
No interim dividend was paid only National Express expects a full-year payout. The shares fell 4 to 238.9.