Newcastle-headquartered international bus and rail giant Go-Ahead Group announced it will reinstate its pre-Covid policy of paying a dividend to shareholders equivalent to between 50% and 75% of underlying earnings per share from FY22.

“The board intends to recommend a dividend of not less than 50p in respect of the year ending 2 July 2022 (FY22) in line with this policy,” said Go-Ahead.

The news was contained in the conclusions of a business beview headed by Go-Ahead CEO Christian Schreyer, which also revealed the company will target an increase in annual group revenue to around £4 billion “up by around 30%, in the medium-term.”

Go-Ahead will target an increase in annual group operating profit to at least £150 million “in the medium-term.”

Schreyer said: “This is an exciting moment for Go-Ahead.

“My review of the business has found fundamental strengths, and has identified areas where we can deliver improvements and sustainable growth.

“We plan to strengthen, digitalise and decarbonise our operations, delivering greater profitability and stronger returns to investors alongside improvements for our customers and communities.

“Transport is at a tipping point as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The importance of mass transport is growing, reflecting trends in climate change, digitalisation, urbanisation and demographics around the world; and there are increasing opportunities for private operators to bring their expertise to public transport markets.

“Go-Ahead’s core strength is in commuter transport and we see opportunities to grow by encouraging people to leave their cars at home, by winning new contracts and through carefully selected acquisitions.

“Today, we’ve set ambitious, but deliverable, targets. It has been a challenging two years for public transport but there is an exciting future ahead for Go-Ahead.”