Mobico Group has reported that increased competition in the UK coach market has affected the performance of its National Express business, as the company continues to implement measures following its integration into Spanish subsidiary Alsa.
In its audited results for the 15 months ending 31 March 2026, Mobico said that UK Coach experienced lower yields and passenger volumes as competition intensified. The company added that initiatives are now underway to improve operational performance, strengthen competitiveness and deliver synergies through the integration with Alsa.
The update comes as Mobico reported adjusted group revenue of 3.42 billion GBP, an increase of 5.9% compared with the previous 15-month reporting period. Adjusted operating profit also rose to 231 million GBP, up from 196 million GBP.
However, the group reported a 22.9 million GBP adjusted operating loss for its National Express UK Coach business.
While the UK coach division faced headwinds, the group’s overall performance was supported by continued growth at Alsa and the return to full service levels in its German rail operations.
Mobico said the integration of National Express Coach into Alsa forms part of its wider ‘Simplify, Strengthen, Succeed’ strategy, which aims to create a leaner operating model while delivering 100 million GBP of annualised operating cost savings.
Paco Iglesias, Group CEO, said:Mobico has maintained its positive performance through the first quarter of 2026, driven by continued growth in Alsa and a resumption of full-service levels in Germany from the end of 2025. We are increasing our Adjusted Operating Profit guidance for calendar year 2026 to £215 - 230m. Whilst challenges remain within our US and UK operations, we are actively addressing these and are making substantial progress through our ‘Simplify, Strengthen, Succeed’ strategy which is centered on a leaner, more integrated, approach across the Group and which is on track to generate £100m of annualised cost savings.
Alongside operational improvements, the group continues to focus on reducing debt. It reported liquidity of 800 million GBP at the end of March 2026, comprising 242 million GBP in net cash and an undrawn 600 million GBP revolving credit facility.
During the reporting period, Mobico also completed the sales of North America School Bus (NASB) and National Express Transport Solutions, while the planned monetisation of its UK Bus assets is progressing ahead of the transition to bus franchising.
