25/06/2003

Financial highlights

• Turnover £2,077m (2002- £2,111m)
• Total operating profit* £146m (2002 - £167m)
• Profit before tax* £113m (2002 - £107m)
• £575m of exceptional write-downs from Coach USA review resulting in a statutory loss before tax of £500m (2002 – profit of £42m)
• Earnings per share* 6.4p; up from 6.3p
• Free cash flow up 18% to £218m
• Net debt down £215m to £560m
• Full year dividend of 2.6p (2002 – 2.6p)

* excluding goodwill amortisation and exceptional items

Business highlights

• Continued profitability in all four key operating divisions
• Good progress in restructuring Coach USA
• c. £300m of disposals announced post year-end
• Terms of new franchise at South West Trains finalised
• Improved operational performance benefiting Rail Division
• Margin improvement at UK Bus
• Strong revenue and volume growth in New Zealand

Stagecoach Chief Executive Brian Souter said: “We have a clear strategy for the Group and are on schedule with our sales programme and restructuring at Coach USA. The Group is in a strong financial position as a result of our decisive action to de-risk our portfolio and we continue to reduce net debt.

“We will focus on maximising shareholder value from our existing portfolio, which will be dominated by our strong UK bus and rail businesses, and we see further potential for organic growth across our UK, US and New Zealand operations.”

ENDS

Enquiries to:

Martin Griffiths, Stagecoach Group – 01738 442111
Steven Stewart, Stagecoach Group – 01738 442111
John Kiely, Smithfield Financial – 020 7360 4900

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