Stagecoach says trading in line with expectations

Source: Reuters

Date :29/10/2008 12:22:50

Scottish bus and rail company Stagecoach said on Wednesday its trading since August 28 had been in line with expectations, while it expects to be resilient through an economic downturn.

"Although the uncertain economic environment reduces medium-term visibility of financial performance, the group's portfolio of businesses should be relatively resilient to the effects of declining economic growth," the firm said.

It added that like-for-like sales for the 24 weeks to October 12 were up 9.2 percent for UK bus and 8.3 percent for UK rail, while the North American division was 8.4 percent higher.

Stagecoach shares, down 28 percent in the year to date, closed on Tuesday at 205.25 pence, valuing the group at just under 1.5 billion pounds.

(Reporting by John Bowker, editing by Will Waterman)

LONDON (Reuters)