Earlier this month the full accounts for Stagecoach Devon were released on the Companies House web site
Stagecoach Devon Limited is a public transport operator, operating predominantly local bus services in Devon. The
Company also operates the Falcon coach service providing connections to Bristol city centre and the airport. The
Company operates a fleet of 432 (2019:430) buses and employs 1,247 (2019: 1 ,230) people.
Results and performance
The results of the Company for the period ended 02 May 2020 show a profit on ordinary activities before taxation of
£1,058,000 (2019 loss: £345,000) and revenue of £55,841,000 (2019: £56,279,000)
The Company's business is built on a commercial formula of low fares, investment and high customer service which
has maintained our presence in the region, however, the Company has been adversely impacted by the substantial
fall in passenger demand for public transport in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Future outlook
With the continuing uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation and the UK's recovery, it remains difficult to reliably predict
financial performance for the new financial year ending 1 May 2021. In the short-term, the actions we have taken and
the payments from government for continuing bus services should ensure we continue to generate positive EBITDA
and avoid significant operating losses. As COVID-related restrictions have been relaxed, we have restored services
and our regional bus vehicle mileage is now at around 98% of prior year levels.
Nevertheless, with ongoing physical distancing requirements placing a capacity constraint on our vehicles and
government advice discouraging public transport use in the short-term, government is continuing payments to bus
operators for the increased level of services.
Looking further ahead, we expect a lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel patterns with an acceleration in
trends of increased working from home, shopping from home, telemedicine and home education. We anticipate that it
will be some time before demand for our regional bus services returns to pre-COVID levels and we are planning for a
number of scenarios. We are continuing to review our cost base, to reduce overheads and plan for adjustments to
direct and semi-direct costs across a range of scenarios. At the same time, we see positive drivers for the business
from a renewed societal focus on health, wellbeing and the environment. Buses across the UK can play a major role
in a cleaner, greener and more resilient economy and society, tackling climate change with strong government action
to reduce car use
The full document can be viewed from my Library document here
Where do they go from here?
This is a question I will be asking for the three main companies over the next week or so. These are my thoughts but please feel free to join in and add your comments!
There has been a lot of chatter over the last few months with many confidently predicting that Stagecoach would be leaving Plymouth with First South west set to come back and take over The Ride. I genuinely have no idea if this is true or not. It is quite possible that this was planned but plans have been put on hold due to lockdown in which case who knows if plans have changed?
At the time of the original takeover of Plymouths operations by Stagecoach it seemed pretty clear that one of the big advantages for Stagecoach was The Ride – with plenty of room when some of their other depots were very short of space. The setting up of The Ride as a major base for Megabus as well as the successful Falcon service seemed to bode well for Plymouth. However the Megabus side of things didn't stay here for long. Although I would stop short of saying they clearly wanted out of Plymouth, over the last few years I've often had the feeling that Stagecoach’s heart wasn't really in Plymouth. They did get a most of the City Council tenders a few years ago, only to loose many of them back to Citybus recently. Other than that nothing has changed.
So will First come back into Plymouth in a big way? That's a question I will be looking more into when I take a closer look at First South West shortly. Its easy to see what's in it for Stagecoach if they really do want out? its less clear for me why FSW would want to come back?
Pandemic Recovery
With the ending of at least some of the restrictions in sight over the coming few months all eyes will be on the operators to see how they recover from the lockdown. We don't know much of SCs plans yet but open top services do feature…
In the meantime the new liveries continue to roll out in Plymouth as well as the others areas of Devon. Although the standard livery is very slowly growing on me, the yellow version looks cheap compared to the excellent Stagecoach Gold brand which really did manage to convey a premium service. It seems the group as a whole is turning its back on route specific branding which is a shame. Maybe its time to renumber Gold as X80 or something?
So what do you think the rest of 2021 holds for Stagecoach in Devon? and in particular do their plans include pulling out or staying in Plymouth?
Be better to leave Plymouth to citybus they have been here for years lots of bus companies have gone and citybus is still here and if stage coach leave and first don't come back then citybus only need a few more busses to do the couple of routes that stagecoach or first would do
ReplyDeletePeople underestimate the size of Stagecoach's Plymouth operations. Although CityBus could tweak its services to make up for the loss of the 2/2A, there is still the 1, 3, Falcon and the Park & Rides to cover, plus a handful of contracts in Plymouth and at the Tavistock outstation.
DeleteI can't see the Competition Commission allowing CityBus to buy out Stagecoach in Plymouth as it would give CityBus a virtual monopoly in the city, although if Plymouth were simply to close its depot and deregister the routes CityBus would be able to register replacements.
I have to disagree. PCB is seemingly a good operator but with no competition from a key player (SC/First/etc) it leaves them to monopolise the bus network in the City.
ReplyDeleteIf stagecoach were a more prominent operator in the City, prices with PCB would be lower and the services would be more reliable. The other operator does not need to be in direct competition, it just needs to have a decent presence in the city to benefit the passengers.
I personally would like to see Stagecoach take Plymouth more seriously, put some pressure on PCB with some similar corridors being served more frequently with decent rolling stock, see how that benefits the passengers! Particularly as PCB is now operating a significant number of exLondon/nearly new stock rather than the new stuff we had seen in our city which has since moved to Cornwall.
There was some talk of the 69 plate E400Citys moving to Cornwall ops too, anyone know if that is still the case? Any one know if PCB has any plans to upgrade any vehicles with new purchases in the City?
Citybus have never really bothered to compete on fares. Back in the days when I worked in an actual office my colleague had a choice of Stagecoach or Citybus - Stagecoach were significantly cheaper but if his SC bus didnt turn up then he had sometimes over half an hour wait for another one in which time loads of Citybus came passed. Its not all about fares for passengers especially when so many of them now will use apps / season tickets etc.
DeleteLet’s knock the idea that First have any interest in returning to their old depot or network in Plymouth on the head for once and for all. It’s pure fantasy.
ReplyDeleteNot the old depot or network but the start of the return will be in May
DeleteSurely two separate issues here which enthusiasts have assumed are connected. SC is half hearted about Plymouth & First is back locally on a smaller scale but not to take the entire SC operation back.
DeleteI agree this looks more and more like a case of "one and one making three". As commented elsewhere, it reminds me of similar speculation First would leave Southampton to GA -- which has also proved to be no more than speculation. I may of course be wrong on both counts. I'm also wary of those advocating Stagecoach challenge PCB on some corridors -- in Southampton, in normal times (whatever they were)one corridor has First and GA scheduling no less than 32 buses an hour!
DeleteI can't see First returning to PLymouth; why would they?
ReplyDeleteIf Stagecoach were to pull out, GA would increase fares and make the most of their monopoly. Just look at what they do on the Isle of Wight wher ethey have a monopoly; fares are eye wateringly high.
Interesting to note Stagecoach Devon's income from the job retention scheme and Covid bus service grant amounted to £2.6m. Without this a larger loss than last year would have been made.
ReplyDeleteExcept it wouldn't because the job retention and covid bus support grant replaces the revenue lost due to the lower number of passengers and is based on the revenue taken by the operator in the same weeks last year so the notional effect on income is close to nil. (I work for a local authority transport team where we are involved in this but not saying where)
DeleteIndeed! I thought operators weren't supposed to make a profit out of the government's emergency covid funding?
DeleteMy contact in ssw is under impression from the managers comments on there blink app(a application many firms use to keep staff up to date) that the falcon brand is to be dropped and coaches painted in the new stagecoach interurban livery. He has also hinted that the hop122 is to be rerouted to cover more coast but details will emerge.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting (re: 122), I wonder if it will operate via Meadfoot?
DeleteThere are also rumours that 1915-19107 are being transferred to Torquay (after conversion to Open Top) as the 122 is allegedly extending to Brixham
DeleteSpotted this morning on 2s was ssw 37136 still branded ex-citi
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/MarcMorganHuws/status/1364580475105406981 new first service liveried
ReplyDeleteAll this nonsense about travel plans have changed permanently is a load of nonsense! People are staying at home etc because of the virus not out of choice, they predicted airlines wouldn't come back and yet we've seen a massive surge on bookings in the last week. Moving on, Stagecoach have never been interested in Plymouth it was a strategic move to stop any competitor moving in and possibly expanding. I think it's inevitable that GA will end up the dominant operator in Plymouth & North Cornwall with smaller independents picking up the remnants.
ReplyDeleteTo some extent I agree with you, there will be a reasonable recovery fairly quickly once lockdown is lifted but travel planes will change for quite a few people. I for one am unlikely to go back to full time office working, possibly one or two days a week max, at the office but the others days working from home. OK so I am only one passenger - but a lot of companies have discovered that staff can work from home. I agree with you on the rest though!
DeleteAnonymous25 February 2021 at 19:00: thanks for the explanation which makes perfect sense. I and a few others have been a bit flummoxed by the supposed "no profit" status of the funding, but this is all now clear. And yes, I can see that the £2.6m would be about equivalent to the lost revenue for that short period.
ReplyDeleteBut even with the actual pre-Covid passenger revenue SC appeared to make a loss (?) so why a profit now under emergency funding? Still scratching head?
Delete@Anonymous 9 March. Stagecoach's accounts cover a period both before and during Covid. As the rules changed, so did the company's financial position. The current support offered through the Covid Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG) means that operators can only break even at the moment, irrespective of whether they previously made profits or losses. There are a number in the latter category who are benefitting from this generous position.
ReplyDelete