Stagecoach bypasses accountants for IFRS

by Catherine Woods - Friday, 22nd February 2008 -

Public transport operator Stagecoach Group recruited extra people to the finance team when it moved from reporting using UK GAAP to IFRS, says FD Martin Griffiths.

Griffiths says: “The transition hasn’t been an insignificant change for all of us. We weren’t going to source that to an accountancy firm to do. We decided to recruit and make sure we had the people internally. It has been very cost effective.”

Aside from the cost savings, Griffiths says it was important to “have that skill set within the business”, especially given the current business environment.

Stagecoach is primarily a bus operator but it has aviation and rail interests as well. In addition to the UK, the company also has operations in countries such as China and the US.

Its interim results, which were released last December, showed strong revenue growth in bus and rail in the UK and North America. Revenue from continuing businesses was up 9.1 per cent at £820.8m.

Griffiths says now is a good time to be in public transport. “We’re a small island, road space is at a premium and road congestion is ever increasing,” he says.

“Meanwhile, migrants are coming to the UK who are comfortable with public transport. Then there are environmental issues; people are individually and collectively becoming more appreciative of the concerns of the environment.”

Picture source

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