Continued positive trading and new acquisitions

RNS Number : 1833Y

National Express Group PLC

04 December 2017

4 December 2017

Continued positive trading and new acquisitions sustain year end momentum

National Express Group PLC is pleased to announce that it has completed two small acquisitions in November; one each in the US and Spain. Both acquisitions will enable further expansion in target markets. They are:

· A school bus and coach business with 204 vehicles, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. This acquisition strengthens our presence in Ohio, enabling us to grow our business further, as well as improve our service offering to our customers in Cincinnati.

· A Madrid bus operator with 73 vehicles, that provides staff transfers for a large local airline and national bank headquarters; an urban transport contract in Azuqueca, Guadalajara; and, school bus services in Madrid.

Both businesses are expected to deliver returns in line with our guidance of 15-20%.

We continued to see a good trading performance across all of our divisions during October and November, in line with the trends set out in our most recent Trading Update.

We are encouraged by strong early Christmas trading in both our UK and Spanish coach businesses, with advanced sales higher than last year.

Overall, we remain on course to deliver our profit, free cash flow and leverage targets for the full year.

Enquiries

National Express Group PLC

Chris Davies, Group Finance Director	0121 460 8655
Anthony Vigor, Director of Policy and External Affairs	07767 425822
Louise Richardson, Head of Investor Relations	07827 807766