Trainline shares booked themselves a ticket to the top of the FTSE 350 in early trade on Friday after releasing upbeat results for the year to 29th February 2024.
Shares in the ticketing app were over 6% higher as investors digested an encouraging set of numbers for the last year.
Net ticket sales at Trainline soared by 22% year-over-year, reaching £5.3bn, which falls at the upper end of the company’s previous guidance range.
“Trainline has this morning delivered a blistering earnings report, carrying last year’s momentum into 2024 at full steam. The online ticketing platform has delivered significant increases in revenues, cash flows and profits in all operating regions, making notable headway in Spain where ticket sales have doubled for two years in a row,” said Mark Crouch, analyst at investment platform eToro.
Ticket sales drove a 21% increase in revenue to £397m, beating previously anticipated guidance. Higher revenue was reflected in the 42% jump in adjusted EBITDA to £122m, accounting for 2.3% of net ticket sales. Operating profit surged 101% to £56m.
Trainline’s mobile app experienced a robust surge in downloads, cementing its position as Europe’s most downloaded rail app.
The company has been at the forefront of driving the shift towards digital tickets in the UK rail market. The industry-wide penetration of e-tickets in industry ticket sales increased from 43% in FY2023 to 47% and Trainline has secured a large proportion of this market.
Trainline’s share of the commuter travel segment grew from 10% pre-COVID to 23%, while on-the-day bookings accounted for 66% of Trainlines UK Consumer transactions.
“Trainline remains firmly on track to exceed growth expectations and now boast the title of Europe’s most downloaded rail app. Shareholders will be buoyed by the news of an additional £75m in buybacks, in addition to the £50m already underway,” Crouch said.
Internationally, Trainline’s Consumer net ticket sales surpassed the £1bn mark. Combined growth across Spain and Italy stood at 43%, with domestic ticket sales in Spain more than doubling for two consecutive years.
Trainline has provided robust guidance for the year ahead which will go a long way to bolster investor confidence. The group sees net ticket sales growth between 8% and 12% and revenue growth of between 7% and 11%. Adjusted EBITDA is guided to be between 2.4% and 2.5% of net ticket sales.
