National Express stuck in depot after profit fears | Business

It hasn’t been the best week for National Express investors. The stock, having dropped more than 20 per cent in the past year, has come under more pressure in the past couple of days since the FTSE 250 transport group warned that profit growth would return more slowly than passenger numbers.

Yesterday, shares in the nationwide coach operator and West Midlands bus company closed down another 19¾p, or 8.1 per cent, to 225¼p after Peel Hunt advised its clients to stop buying the shares. The analysts gave two reasons: margin pressures and a more gradual profit recovery than expected.

National Express now estimates that profit margins will average out at only 7 per cent because of factors including wage inflation and staff shortages on its