Stagecoach Group (Group-wide matters)

[TheGrandWazoo]

I have read the statements, Coach USA is being sold off to Variant Equity Advisors, Does this sale including Megabus USA?

Suggest you read the statement again

“Stagecoach Group plc ("Stagecoach") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to sell its North America Division to an affiliate of Variant Equity Advisors, LLC ("Variant") (the "Disposal")”

“The sale of our North American operations will allow management to focus more closely on the significant opportunities for growth in the UK.”

“Stagecoach’s North America Division operates bus and coach services. It provides megabus.com inter-city coach services, commuter services, airport transportation, sightseeing tours, charters and contract services across North America.”

Seems fairly clear???

 

[overthewater]

YES it does.

 

[Surreyman]

I see this development in a very positive light.
Sure it means that Stagecoaches North American businesses have been performing badly in recent times, Stagecoach have decided to exit the market (good to see a decisive PLC!!).
£214M will pay down a lot of debt/fund DB pensions schemes, putting Stagecoach in a much healthier position than some other UK PLC Bus/Rail companies.

 

[mbonwick]

The markets are generally seeing this in a positive light - one analyst described the current American market as "get big or leave" - but some are slightly disappointed in the price achieved.

 

[overthewater]

I wonder if there could buy out First in the usa? Also Variant owns this:

Curb Mobility (Curb) provides a comprehensive mobility platform that serves taxi and other for-hire ride operators, regulators, service providers, and riders. Headquartered in Long Island City, NY, Curb offers products for mobile app solutions, effortless payment, paratransit, business travel, and advertising.

 

[Volvodart]

Unlikely they would be willing to pay the price Firstgroup would need to sell it for to make a profit.

 

[winston270twm]

Maybe relations to Flixbus are not too good after the Europe sale, or they were offering too little.

Flixbus were keen enough to buy Megabus Europe & Polski Bus off Souter Holdings. I'd have thought Megabus USA would have given them scale to quickly expand in the US.

 

[Mwanesh]

Flixbus were keen enough to buy Megabus Europe & Polski Bus off Souter Holdings. I'd have thought Megabus USA would have given them scale to quickly expand in the US.

Last time Flixbus bought Megabus Europe the terms were Stagecoach would supply vehicles and drivers for a 2year period then Flixbus changed the term and Stagecoach ended up with hundreds of vehicles .

 

[goldisgood]

It looks like the latest batch of MMCs (the ones for Morecambe) has been delivered with moquette, or at least a material the same design as the old moquette. About time - the orange and blue did look awful on the Smart Seat, even though it worked fine on the Pratico. This can be seen fairly clearly on some of the buses.

I can't seem to copy and paste the picture, but it's the second picture down here. http://brandnewbus.blogspot.com/2018/12/68-plate-news-21st-dec-to-updated-24th.html

 

[Megafuss]

Can anyone explain why Stagecoach Midlands has implemented a massive change to its timetables on a Saturday (5th Jan). I thought Stagecoach weeks started on a Sunday?

 

[route101]

What is the oldest Stagecoah bus in service ?

 

[robk23oxf]

Can anyone explain why Stagecoach Midlands has implemented a massive change to its timetables on a Saturday (5th Jan). I thought Stagecoach weeks started on a Sunday?

When Oxfordshire County Council cut all their subsidised routes in 2016, service changes came about on a Thursday. Drivers on affected rosters did their normal week up to and including Wednesday, after that the rest of the week was 'as required' before dropping back onto their roster lines on the following Sunday.

 

[goldisgood]

For anyone interested, I've compiled the latest Stagecoach profits for each division (I'm pretty sure they are right) and compared with the 2017 result. Midlands is now making a profit, but Highlands has made a loss so still one division loss-making.

Stagecoach UK Bus profit for the 52 weeks ending 28 April 2018
Stagecoach South - £8,699k down from 2017 £11,943k
Stagecoach Midlands - £1,032k up from 2017 (£2,399k)
Stagecoach South Wales - £3,791k down from 2017 £6,446k
Stagecoach Oxfordshire - £3,194k down from 2017 £4,321k
Stagecoach West - £3,286k down from 2017 £4,180k
Stagecoach South East - £4,184k down from 2017 £5,435k
Stagecoach Manchester - £17,679k up from 2017 £15,472k
Stagecoach Merseyside - £8,746k up from 2017 £5,916k
Stagecoach East London - £5,647k up from 2017 £3,595k
Stagecoach East London (Rainham?) - £374k up from 2017 £210k
Stagecoach Selkent - £11,703k up from 2017 £10,187k
Stagecoach North East - £10,408k up from 2017 £8,805k
Stagecoach East Scotland - £4,291k down from 2017 £5,569k
Stagecoach West Scotland - £4,695k up from 2017 £3,370k
Stagecoach Bluebird - £792k down from 2017 £1,924k
Stagecoach Highlands - (£806,000) down from 2017 £721k
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire - £3,761k up from 2017 £2,950k
Stagecoach East Midlands - £7,439k down from 2017 £8,726k
Stagecoach Yorkshire - £15,152k up MASSIVELY from 2017!? £4,044k
Stagecoach South West - £2,630k down from 2017 £9,989k
Stagecoach East - £7,459k down from 2017 £8,703k

 

[Jordan Adam]

Highlands is unlikely to ever be profitable. The only real money makers are the 1/1A/1B/1C, 2/2A, 3/3A, 5/5A/5B, 11 & 25/27. Even then they ain't great.

 

[Man of Kent]

For anyone interested, I've compiled the latest Stagecoach profits for each division (I'm pretty sure they are right) and compared with the 2017 result. Midlands is now making a profit, but Highlands has made a loss so still one division loss-making.

Stagecoach UK Bus profit for the 52 weeks ending 28 April 2018
Stagecoach South - £8,699k down from 2017 £11,943k
Stagecoach Midlands - £1,032k up from 2017 (£2,399k)
Stagecoach South Wales - £3,791k down from 2017 £6,446k
Stagecoach Oxfordshire - £3,194k down from 2017 £4,321k
Stagecoach West - £3,286k down from 2017 £4,180k
Stagecoach South East - £4,184k down from 2017 £5,435k
Stagecoach Manchester - £17,679k up from 2017 £15,472k
Stagecoach Merseyside - £8,746k up from 2017 £5,916k
Stagecoach East London - £5,647k up from 2017 £3,595k
Stagecoach East London (Rainham?) - £374k up from 2017 £210k
Stagecoach Selkent - £11,703k up from 2017 £10,187k
Stagecoach North East - £10,408k up from 2017 £8,805k
Stagecoach East Scotland - £4,291k down from 2017 £5,569k
Stagecoach West Scotland - £4,695k up from 2017 £3,370k
Stagecoach Bluebird - £792k down from 2017 £1,924k
Stagecoach Highlands - (£806,000) down from 2017 £721k
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire - £3,761k up from 2017 £2,950k
Stagecoach East Midlands - £7,439k down from 2017 £8,726k
Stagecoach Yorkshire - £15,152k up MASSIVELY from 2017!? £4,044k
Stagecoach South West - £2,630k down from 2017 £9,989k
Stagecoach East - £7,459k down from 2017 £8,703k

Stagecoach Yorkshire is the recipient of a £11,500k dividend from Lincolnshire Road Car Co. Ltd. After tax, the correct profit figure is £14,622k. LRCC is the legal identity of Stagecoach East Midlands.

 

[Fifescottish]

Has East Scotland really gone down so much?

I know they have cutback routes but that still seems a big drop.

 

[embers25]

For anyone interested, I've compiled the latest Stagecoach profits for each division (I'm pretty sure they are right) and compared with the 2017 result. Midlands is now making a profit, but Highlands has made a loss so still one division loss-making.

Stagecoach UK Bus profit for the 52 weeks ending 28 April 2018
Stagecoach South West - £2,630k down from 2017 £9,989k

Big drop for South West. Surprised we've not seen more service cuts and that we are still getting new buses. Wonder how Exeter, Torbay and Plymouth compare in regards to profits?

 

[Megafuss]

Interesting that Stagecoach East Midlands and Stagecoach East posted virtually identical numbers for the last couple of years despite having totally different operating areas.

It will be interesting to see what happens with both of them now one has a newish young MD with a good reputation and the other is going through a transformation after the long standing MD "retired"

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Big drop for South West. Surprised we've not seen more service cuts and that we are still getting new buses. Wonder how Exeter, Torbay and Plymouth compare in regards to profits?

The previous years' figures were rather misleading as it included a £7.1m one off from the sale of Exeter site.

 

[RELL6L]

I was going to point out the same thing about South West's previous year accounts.

I haven't been through everything, or even close, but interesting to compare matters between different Stagecoach company accounts as they are all prepared on a similar and consistent basis.
A comparison between two here:
Stagecoach Manchester - revenue £119.6m, operating profit £17.8m - that's 14.9%.
Stagecoach South West - revenue £58.7m, operating profit £2.3m - that's 3.9%. Big difference.
Analysts could note that the accounts for each company also give average passengers per day. These are 298,000 for Manchester and 85,000 for South West. Don't know quite how they have done this but if you suppose this is based on about 300 days per year (excluding Sundays) then revenue per passenger is £1.34 in Manchester and £2.30 in South West. So South West is less profitable but a long way from being a basket case or endangered. I'm sure there is much more of interest trawling through the other companies.

The biggest contrast of course is between Stagecoach and First in Manchester - topically. Of course these may not be on a consistent basis as the two groups may well account for things - particularly central type costs - in different ways, but for First Manchester the figures would appear to be revenue £86.1m, operating loss £5.8m. Incredible contrast to Stagecoach in the same city! Not sure if Stagecoach includes Wigan here - I guess it does and based on past reports this is going to be less profitable than elsewhere so massive credit to Stagecoach to make these profits and margins.

Of course if one company was achieving high short term profits because they were milking the area by providing poor service with clapped out vehicles at high fares with no view to the future while the other was providing a quality service at attractive prices developing routes and investing for the future then this should be taken into account. I can't speak from significant personal experience of the companies in the area - my few trips have been equally reliable on both - but others may have views here!

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

For a while (a bit more than a year I think), I've been curious as to why the engine idle revs on the Oxford batch of S5-branded Scania E400's, when at idle, are a tad quicker than other Euro 5 ones.

Does anyone know why?

Sorry if no one's noticed but I definitely have.

 

[Regent III]

For anyone interested, I've compiled the latest Stagecoach profits for each division (I'm pretty sure they are right) and compared with the 2017 result. Midlands is now making a profit, but Highlands has made a loss so still one division loss-making.

Stagecoach UK Bus profit for the 52 weeks ending 28 April 2018
Stagecoach South - £8,699k down from 2017 £11,943k
Stagecoach Midlands - £1,032k up from 2017 (£2,399k)
Stagecoach South Wales - £3,791k down from 2017 £6,446k
Stagecoach Oxfordshire - £3,194k down from 2017 £4,321k
Stagecoach West - £3,286k down from 2017 £4,180k
Stagecoach South East - £4,184k down from 2017 £5,435k
Stagecoach Manchester - £17,679k up from 2017 £15,472k
Stagecoach Merseyside - £8,746k up from 2017 £5,916k
Stagecoach East London - £5,647k up from 2017 £3,595k
Stagecoach East London (Rainham?) - £374k up from 2017 £210k
Stagecoach Selkent - £11,703k up from 2017 £10,187k
Stagecoach North East - £10,408k up from 2017 £8,805k
Stagecoach East Scotland - £4,291k down from 2017 £5,569k
Stagecoach West Scotland - £4,695k up from 2017 £3,370k
Stagecoach Bluebird - £792k down from 2017 £1,924k
Stagecoach Highlands - (£806,000) down from 2017 £721k
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire - £3,761k up from 2017 £2,950k
Stagecoach East Midlands - £7,439k down from 2017 £8,726k
Stagecoach Yorkshire - £15,152k up MASSIVELY from 2017!? £4,044k
Stagecoach South West - £2,630k down from 2017 £9,989k
Stagecoach East - £7,459k down from 2017 £8,703k

I don't doubt these figures for a moment, but I would like to quote one of them on our Bus Users Group website, so I'd be grateful if you could tell me your source. Many thanks.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I don't doubt these figures for a moment, but I would like to quote one of them on our Bus Users Group website, so I'd be grateful if you could tell me your source. Many thanks.

Most likely Companies house.

 

[goldisgood]

I don't doubt these figures for a moment, but I would like to quote one of them on our Bus Users Group website, so I'd be grateful if you could tell me your source. Many thanks.

Most likely Companies house.

Yes, all the figures are from companies house and are (I hope) the right figures.

 

[goldisgood]

I've read on another forum that Stagecoach Gold is to be discontinued - has anyone else heard anything about this?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I've read on another forum that Stagecoach Gold is to be discontinued - has anyone else heard anything about this?

Guess I'd ask what source and forum?

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

I've read on another forum that Stagecoach Gold is to be discontinued - has anyone else heard anything about this?

The Stagecoach Gold route is being removed in Perth, as well as the 12-plated Enviro350H vehicles, and are being replaced by 63-plated Enviro300s which will be branded to the corporate Stagecoach style, "reflecting the consistently high standard of service delivery provided by this depot".

 

[GaryMcEwan]

I've read on another forum that Stagecoach Gold is to be discontinued - has anyone else heard anything about this?

Potentially Route 7 in Perth. The hybrids will be transferring to North Scotland in the not to distant future.

 

[goldisgood]

Guess I'd ask what source and forum?

A user on the DartSLF forum posted this:

As an aside, I have it on good authority that no more buses will be delivered to ‘Gold’ specification. Stagecoach want to do away with separate brands.

http://dartslf.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=13&pid=126015#pid126015

As people have said above, the 7 in Perth is losing its gold hybrids, and the Stagecoach South 51 is being painted out of Gold but keeping its buses.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

A user on the DartSLF forum posted this

A direct link to this post would be much obliged.