Trainline lifts FY revenue guidance

The company, which floated on the stock market in June, said group ticket sales rose 19% in the six months to the end of August to £1.8bn, while group revenue was up 29% to £129m.

UK consumer revenue was up 34% during the period to £86m, driven by strong net ticket sales growth and revenue optimisation running ahead of plan. International revenue grew 99% to £14m.

Given the "strong" start to FY20 and the solid performance in the UK, Trainline upped its guidance for full-year group revenue growth to be in low to mid 20% range. However, it also warned that UK consumer revenue would be lower in the second half, mostly due to the annualisation of new revenue streams that launched during the second half of FY19.

Chief executive officer Clare Gilmartin said: "We are pleased with the strong levels of growth we have delivered in the first half of the year. Our performance is underpinned by the long-term shift of customers from offline to online, the successful rollout of eTicketing and our continued focus on making rail and coach travel easier for customers worldwide.

"As most rail and coach tickets continue to be sold offline, and as customers and governments commit to championing more environmental modes of travel, we see significant growth opportunities for Trainline over the long term. We are delighted our IPO in June was received so positively and are focused on delivering the strategy we set out, as evidenced by our performance in the first half."

Trainline also said in a separate announcement that Brian McBride has been appointed as its new independent non-executive chairman from 5 November, replacing Douglas McCallum, who is retiring.

McBride was chair of Asos from 2012 to 2018 and CEO of Amazon.co.uk from 2006 to 2011.

At 0950 BST, the shares were up 6.6% at 477.50p.