Trainline lifts forecasts amid ‘strong’ ticket sales growth

Trainline has increased its full-year guidance for the second time in two months after making more cash from ticket sales this year than it previously expected.

The London-listed company forecast that net ticket sales could grow as much as 14% for the year ending February 28, above a previous top end of 12%.

The bookings platform said it has seen growth over the first six months of its financial year, and that another “strong start” to the second half, in October, has pushed forecasts up.

The company had previously lifted its guidance just last month, but the most recent update comes ahead of its half-year results in early November.

Trainline makes most of its money by taking a commission on ticket sales for coach and rail journeys, and has benefitted from fewer train strikes this year than last.

Last month, it also cited the growing popularity of digital tickets stored on mobile phones versus paper tickets for its improving sales.

The updates come during a period of uncertainty for Trainline, which could lose out from Labour’s pledge to create a Government-owned train operator called Great British Railways.

The company has grown quickly in recent years as a way to help customers find tickets in a rail system with scores of private sector companies, sometimes operating on the same route.

But some investors have been concerned that Labour’s proposed simplification of the system to make it more consumer-friendly could hurt the ticketing firm.

However, shares have risen 8% since the start of the year amid the strong sales growth, with many of the private sector operators’ contracts still set to run for several years.

Trainline added on Monday that revenue could now grow as much as 13% year on year, up from a previous top end of 11%, while its earnings growth forecast was upgraded to 2.6% of net ticket sales.

The company said it is “increasingly benefitting from operating leverage as it scales”.