Arriva Group has published financial results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2015.
The group’s revenue increased by 7.8% from £4.49bn in 2014 to £4.84bn in 2015. EBITDA also increased by 5.4% to £525m (2014: £498m).
The company highlighted several developments over the year from its bus businesses. This included a continued major investment into its the UK Bus fleet along with a restructured and refocussed management team, regional UK bus operations being rated as the joint highest national operator in terms of overall satisfaction with a customer satisfaction rating of 89% and the top score for punctuality of services and the UK Bus mobile app which has now reached almost 800,000 downloads – averaging around 1,000 downloads each day.
The fact that more than 9,000 Arriva buses are now equipped with driver-assistance systems and 2,000 with the Econospeed fuel-saving system, developed by Arriva-owned Zeta Automotive, was also highlighted, as was the company’s investment in people. Results of the 2014 Employee Survey were released in February 2015, showing an improved overall employee satisfaction score with 86% across all 55,000 employees, and 74 graduates entered the Arriva Graduate Programme between 2012 and 2016, of which 88% have remained within Arriva.
Manfred Rudhart, Chief Executive of Arriva, said: “We delivered growth throughout 2015 and continued to invest back into the business.
“Arriva’s proven strategy continues to be successful, as highlighted by another positive year of EBITDA and revenue growth.
“In our UK Rail business we were delighted to be awarded the Northern rail franchise last December. We are ready to begin the contract on April 1 and start our journey to deliver a step-change in quality for customers.
“In UK Bus we have strengthened our senior management team, helping to deliver benefits for customers through meaningful partnerships with local authorities, innovative ticketing solutions, and the latest smartphone technology.
“Across mainland Europe our significant growth has continued and our position in bus and rail markets remains strong. We have made acquisitions in eastern Europe and Italy, while contract wins and successful re-tenders have bolstered our position in countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark.
“Overall we can look back on a positive 2015 which provided further foundations for us to become a bigger, better Arriva in the future. We are well positioned as a respected mobility partner that is prepared to innovate, enter new and liberalising markets, and invest for its people, its partners, and its customers.”
