𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

National Express owner Mobico is cutting back-office jobs across its business, warning annual profits will now fall to the lower end of expectations.

A “large-scale cost reduction programme” is underway, with further savings explored across the group. This comes as Mobico grapples with persistent UK coach market competition and declining bus passenger numbers.

Job cuts primarily impact support and back-office roles in the UK arm, as Mobico intensifies savings efforts amid challenging trading.

The exact number and locations are undisclosed, but some redundancies stem from plans to merge UK coach operations with its better-performing Spanish Alsa business from January next year.

This renewed cost focus follows a revised outlook for full-year underlying operating profits, now projected towards the lower end of the £180 million to £195 million range.

The announcement triggered a sharp market reaction, with shares initially plunging by as much as 14 per cent before recovering later in Wednesday’s trading.

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Mobico said UK coach revenues dropped 7.4 per cent in the third quarter to the end of September as it flagged “increased competition on key routes” and as it offloaded loss-making businesses, including Clarkes of London, The Kings Ferry, Lucketts and Worthing Coaches.

Bus revenues across the UK rose 2.9 per cent, but it saw passenger numbers and commercial revenue both fall 3.7 per cent, with the firm blaming lower consumer confidence.

Alongside the UK coach and bus woes, this is also down to issues with a loss-making contract at WeDriveU, its North America transit and shuttle services business, according to the group.

Overall, it saw group-wide revenues lift 5.4 per cent in the latest quarter, as its Spanish Alsa business delivered a 4.1 per cent rise in revenues and its German rail arm notched up a 14.3 per cent hike in turnover.

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Phil White, executive chairman of Mobico, said: “We continue to focus on simplifying and strengthening the group, taking decisive actions to improve operational and financial performance.

“These actions include a comprehensive cost savings programme, further leveraging Alsa’s best practice across the business and exploring options to monetise the assets of the UK bus business ahead of franchising.”

Mr White, who had been chief executive of the then National Express Group between 1996 and 2006, returned to take the helm at the business earlier this year after former boss Ignacio Garat left in April following a series of profit warnings.

Shares have been severely under pressure this year due to the profit alerts and Mr Garat’s departure, with the stock down 74 per cent in the past 12 months.