This is a 39% increase on the previous year's figure of £158.3m.

Chief Executive Mike Kinski put the success of the bus operations down to a £62.1m investment in a new fleet of 630 buses, which had significantly reduced engineering and maintenance costs.

He said the company's train operation, South West Trains, had done well because of improvements in service.

But he accepted that there had been a variable performance from the Virgin Rail Group, and said Stagecoach and Virgin were working on upgrading the group's rolling stock.

Sales grew by 15% to £1.55bn and operating profits rose 27% to £274.7m. The total share dividend for the year was 3p - up 25% on last year's 2.4p.

Acquisitions doing well

Profits were boosted by an extra £11.2m from Virgin Rail, in which Stagecoach bought a 49% stake last October. Road King Infrastructure - the group's Chinese toll-road operating arm - added another £10.7m.

No slowcoach: profits surge

Porterbrook, the group's rolling stock leasing company providing Virgin with tilting trains, has continued to win new orders.

Stagecoach is predicting strong growth in demand for Porterbrook's products, as it expects passenger numbers to rise by 30% over the next ten years.