North America fuels record half-year profit at National Express

Pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June rose 24% to £80.1m as revenue from continuing operations increased 3.2%, or 64% at constant currency, to £1.21bn.

In North America, National Express’s biggest business, revenue at constant currency rose 9.7% to $753.2m (£547m). Revenue at ALSA, the FTSE 250 group's Spanish coach division, rose 7% to €395.7m (£348m).

UK revenue rose 0.8% to £273.6m as rising passenger numbers sent core coach revenue up 5.2%. Overall UK revenue growth was subdued by National Express quitting the Eurolines network and the Hoppa hotel shuttle business.

Dean Finch, National Express’s chief executive, said: “National Express has had another strong start to the year, delivering its best ever half year statutory profit … Our increasingly diversified portfolio has again delivered strong results. We remain on course to deliver the board's expectations."

National Express increased the interim dividend by 10.1% to 4.69p. The company's shares rose 3.3% to 412p at 12:05 BST.