Shares in Trainline, the London-listed ticketing app, have risen this morning following an increase in its pre-tax profit guidance.
The company reported a modest 2 per cent year-on-year rise in total revenue to £23m, up from £229m in the first half of the year.
Free cash flow reached £79m, and basic earnings per share saw a significant 54 per cent increase to 11.6 pence.
Pre-tax profit experienced a 14 per cent surge to £93m, prompting the ticket app to revise its full-year guidance upwards from 6 to 9 per cent to 10 to 13 per cent.
Despite this positive news, shares in the FTSE 250 listed firm only rose by 5.19 per cent to 267.6 pence in early morning trading. The stock has struggled to maintain growth, falling nearly 10 per cent over the past six months as Labour continues to push for the nationalisation of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ railway, as reported by .
In terms of ticket sales, total net ticket sales saw an 8 per cent year-on-year increase to £3.2bn from £3bn, aligning with the upper end of full-year growth expectations between 6 and 9 per cent.
º£½ÇÊÓƵ ticket sales increased by 2 per cent to £594m, reflecting the ongoing strength in leisure travel sales and market recovery due to increased commuter travel and reduced industrial action.
However, this growth was partially offset by the first phase of TfL's expansion of its contactless payment network, which is expected to put £150m of ticket sales at risk.
Revenue remained flat at £107m, reflecting a reduction in commission rates from April.
International ticket sales also saw a 2 per cent increase to £594m, as the group ramped up its marketing investment in Europe to attract customers and stave off competition.
Revenue from the international segment amounted to £34m, as foreign travel sales, typically yielding higher revenue than domestic sales, experienced a dip.
However, sales rose across South-East France and Spain, making up 22 per cent of all international sales, reflecting the company's increased investment in these regions.
The fastest growing business was its Trainline solutions arm, which provides technology for other rail companies, with sales exceeding £1bn.
The group continued to expand its digital railcard customer base, actively promoting to new customers, seeing a year on year growth of 12 per cent to 2.5m users.
At the end of September, Trainline launched a new buyback programme of up to £150m, following the completion of its previous £75m programme, with £15m shares already repurchased.
The Government is anticipated to publish its response from an industry consultation on the Railways Bill on Tuesday afternoon.
This consultation forms part of the government's broader rail nationalisation programme, where it aims to establish a new passenger watchdog, reform both fare prices and the online retail of tickets, and streamline regulatory processes.
The upcoming discussions are anticipated to focus on the next steps for establishing Great British Railways (GBR), a separate entity tasked with overseeing rail services and infrastructure, including the Department of Transport's plans to develop a competing state ticketing app.
Investment bank Panmure Liberum, which maintains a buy valuation for the company, attributed this as the cause for the stock's surge, with the group forecasting that the government will pledge to keep the market competitive upon GBR's launch.
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