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Trainline rides upwards as it upgrades full-year revenue guidance, appoints former Amazon UK boss as chairman

Published: 09:36 12 Sep 2019 BST

Trainline - Trainline rides upwards as it upgrades full-year revenue guidance, appoints former Amazon UK boss as chairman
Net ticket sales rose 19% to £1.8bn in the period

Shares in Trainline PLC (LON:TRN) tracked upwards on Thursday after the group reported rising ticket sales in its first half and upgraded its full-year revenue forecasts.

The train and coach ticket seller reported in a trading update for the six months ended 31 August that net ticket sales had risen 19% to £1.8bn, with revenues up 29% at £129mln.

READ: Trainline faces threat of Google train booking service, Peel Hunt suggests

Revenues from UK consumer ticket sales, the company’s largest segment, grew 34% to £86mln in the period, while takings at its UK Trainline for Business rose 1% to £30mln and International revenues increased 99% to £14mln.

As a result of the strong start, Trainline raised its guidance for full-year revenue growth to be in the “low to mid 20% range” as a result of the performance in the UK Consumer business, however the firm added that revenues in the division were expected to be “significantly lower” in the second half as a result of the annualisation of new revenue streams.

Clare Gilmartin, chief executive of Trainline, said the company saw “significant growth opportunities” over the long term as ticket sales continued to shift online and the use of electronic tickets rose.

“We are delighted our [initial public offering] in June was received so positively and are focused on delivering the strategy we set out, as evidenced by our performance in the first half", Gilmartin added.

In a separate announcement, Trainline also said Brian McBride, the former CEO of the UK arm of e-commerce giant Amazon Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and previous chair of clothing firm ASOS PLC (LON:ASC), would become the company’s new independent non-executive chairman from 5 November, replacing Douglas McCallum who would retire from the board.

In a note, analysts at Peel Hunt said the update showed the everything was “going to plan” following the company’s float, however they retained their ‘hold’ rating and 400p target price on the firm citing “known unknowns” including the potential impact of Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) expanding its nascent train business and the possibility of a ‘Reserve with Google” function of Google Maps which could undercut Trainline’s platform usage.

The news sent the shares 8% higher to 484p in early trading.

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