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Shares in National Express owner Mobico fell more than 10 per cent on Tuesday after the transport group delayed its annual results to review the accounts of its German rail business.
London-listed Mobico said its management needed to review “accounting judgments” relating to its business running regional trains in Germany, including in the 2022 financial year. A delay in publishing its results would also allow Deloitte to complete an audit, it said.
The company’s full-year results, originally due on February 29, are now expected before the end of March.
Shares fell as much as 11 per cent in early trading on Tuesday, taking their losses over the past 12 months to nearly 40 per cent.
Mobico has struggled to recover its profitability as the transport industry recovers from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and transitions away from the government support packages introduced in many countries to keep buses and trains running during lockdowns.
Shares in the company hit an all-time low in October after it cut its profit outlook and suspended its dividend.
Mobico on Tuesday said it still expected its full-year adjusted earnings before interest and tax to fall within the previously guided range of between £175mn and £185mn, but flagged a deeper-than-expected hit to its German division.
Mobico is the second-largest rail operator in North Rhine-Westphalia and one of the top five operators in Germany.
But its business there has been hit by driver shortages and volatility in energy prices. On Tuesday the company said it expected charges on two of its rail contracts to rise by between £40mn and £70mn more than previously expected.
The charges are taken across the remaining nearly 10 years of the contracts, and the whole German rail business makes up less than 6 per cent of the group’s full-year earnings.
By lunchtime trading in London on Tuesday shares were almost 8 per cent lower at 77.90p, having dropped as low as 70p at the start of the day.
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