Press releases

Leading European passenger transport group Arriva has made further solid progress in developing its business since publishing interim results on 6 September 2007. Full year performance is expected to be in line with management expectations.

Our UK Bus division has continued to grow. The benefits of network development and an encouraging level of patronage growth have more than offset year-on-year increases in fuel costs, while our London operations have mitigated the disruptive impact of extensive street works.

Our UK Trains division has delivered a smooth start to operations of its new nine-year CrossCountry inter-city franchise which commenced on 11 November with 86.3 per cent of services arriving on time over the first four weeks of operation, substantially better than the equivalent services run in the same period last year. Arriva Trains Wales continues to experience strong demand. According to the most recent National Rail Trends 2007-8 (Q2) it is confirmed as the UK’s most improved rail operator with 92.3 per cent of its services arriving on time, compared to 85.7 per cent for the same period last year. Financial results for the division will reflect substantial expenditure on three concurrent UK franchise bids and, as anticipated, the contribution of CrossCountry will be insignificant.

We have maintained the momentum of business development in our mainland Europe business, positioning us for further strong progress in 2008. Integration of major businesses acquired earlier in 2007, in Denmark (Veolia Scandinavia) and Germany (OHE), has gone well. During November we acquired a further small bus business near Madrid and our third bus operation near Prague. We also started four German rail contracts in December and in Poland the Arriva PCC joint venture started the country’s first tendered rail contract. We are continuing to explore numerous contract and acquisition opportunities in mainland Europe and are confident of meeting our medium term growth target of doubling revenue in the division by 2011.

We look forward to continued delivery from our established, robust businesses, and to full-year contributions from our new ventures in Europe and from the CrossCountry franchise. With measures in place to limit any potential impact of fuel price increases in 2008, Arriva is well positioned for another year of profitable growth and strategic opportunity.

Arriva’s preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2007 are expected to be announced on Thursday 6 March 2008.

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