Revenue grew by 44.9% to $982.7m reflecting acquisition of All Aboard America! Holdings, Inc. (‘AAAHI’), and new Sydney contracts from August 2023 and October 2023;
Underlying EBITDA (adjusted for one-off costs associated with M&A and abnormal items) grew by 63.5% to $130.5m illustrating benefits of scale and addition of the higher margin AAAHI business. It was a pleasing result as majority of costs associated with AAAHI integration and Sydney transitions fell in the half;
Underlying EBIT (adjusted for one-off costs associated with M&A and abnormal items) grew by 29.4% to $58.1m;
Depreciation increased by 117.6% to $55.7m reflecting the acquisition of bus assets for Sydney contracts; resetting the asset base associated with the purchase price accounting for AAAHI, and right of use asset depreciation of $12.4m;
Net interest expense of $25.2m compared to $9m in 1HFY23, reflecting higher interest rates on the 50% unhedged borrowings, higher borrowings to fund bus acquisitions for Sydney and USA growth opportunities before SPV was effective, and right of use asset interest of $3.7m;
Underlying Net Profit After Tax and before Amortisation (‘NPATA’) (adjusted for one-off costs associated with M&A and abnormal items), increased by 20.4% to $43.1m;
Statutory Net Profit After Tax (‘NPAT’) was $28.1 million compared to $19.5 million last year;
Capital expenditure increased to $56.1m (excluding Government-backed contracted assets), reflecting the increased scale of business, additions to portfolio and replacement assets to underpin growth and refresh asset base;
Fully franked interim dividend of 8.0 cents per share, (7.5 cents per share in 1HFY23).