THE transport firm which bought Plymouth Citybus has announced an operating profit of £102million for the past year.

The giant Go-Ahead Group plc, which paid £19million for Citybus last December, said it was pleased with the results and had seen ticket sales grow in all its six bus companies, including in Plymouth.

However, the profit margin for the year to July 3 was down £26.8million on the previous 12 months.

Go-Ahead said the operating profit was still £5million more than expected in what it described as challenging economic conditions.

The company's bus division contributed £63.7million to the operating profit, down £2.9million on last year primarily due to lower margin contract renewals in Go-Ahead's regulated London operations.

Citybus, alongside two other bus companies Go-Ahead acquired — London's East Thames Buses and East Anglia's Konectbus — contributed £3.6million to the operating profit.

The acquisitions made 'significant contributions to both turnover and operating profit', the group said.

Go-Ahead described Citybus as 'a high-quality urban operation with a large centrally located freehold depot and a strong reputation that we are seeking to further enhance.'

It said its 'devolved structure encourages high levels of service quality, customer focus and strong local cost control'.

Go-Ahead also operates a rail division and a Yellow School Bus joint venture in the USA.

During the past year the company has launched its Southern rail franchise, introduced the UK's first domestic high-speed rail service and disposed of the bulk of its aviation services division.

Chairman Sir Patrick Brown said yesterday: "We're pleased with the progress made this year in challenging economic conditions.

"Our bus and rail operations have increased passenger revenue, highlighting the quality and value for money of our services.

"We're working closely with the new Government and welcome its review of future rail franchising announced in July," he said.

"We're in good financial shape and continue to believe in the fundamental strengths of public transport."

The firm stressed it was 'financially robust' and said it expected the underlying performance of its bus operations to also remain robust for the next financial year. However, Sir Patrick added: "We continue to be cautious on the near-term prospects for the UK economy and the outlook for the next financial year remains difficult to predict, including any impact from the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review due in October.

"In bus, we expect lower fuel costs and a small additional contribution from acquisitions to be partly offset by the full-year effect of lower operating profit margins in London.

"In rail, we expect a small reduction in operating profit margin next year.

"We will continue to take management action accordingly, focusing on service quality, cost control and financial discipline."