Stagecoach spent £52.3m on new vehicles and spare parts last year with busmaker Alexander Dennis, which is 37.9pc owned by the bus and rail group’s sibling founders.
Brian Souter, chief executive of Stagecoach, and his sister Ann Gloag, who is a non-executive director, collectively own about 25pc of the Perth-based transport company.
The latest results disclose it purchased £48.9m of vehicles from Alexander Dennis and £3.4m of spare parts and other services last year.
Souter and Gloag also own 39.3pc of Argent Energy, which Stagecoach spent £400,000 with last year on biofuel.
Stagecoach finance chief Martin Griffiths insisted the relationship between the group and Alexander Dennis was subject to a ‘very strict’ governance procedure.
He added: ‘Brian plays a role in specifying the vehicles, but he is not involved in negotiating transactions between the companies, which all have to be approved by our non-executive directors.’
Pressed about which other bus suppliers Stagecoach spent money with last year, Griffiths said the company spent more than £100m on vehicles last year and that it deals with Volvo, Optare and Alexander Dennis.
This means that Stagecoach shelled out about half its total expenditure on buses last year with Alexander Dennis.
Separately, yesterday’ s annual results contained a windfall for Stagecoach’s sibling founders, who will receive around £12m in dividend payments – £7m for Souter and £5m for Gloag.
Stagecoach hiked its fullyear dividend from 6p to 6.5p despite recording a 26pc fall in pretax profits to £125.9m.
Earnings were hit by a weaker performance in its North American division, where operating profits fell 36pc as higher levels of unemployment hit its services.
The UK rail division also saw operating profits fall 25pc as the company received £80m less in taxpayer-funded subsidies than the previous year. The UK bus division notched up a 0.4pc rise in operating profits to £126.1m.
Finance director Griffiths poured cold water on talk that Stagecoach could reignite its interest in rival National Express, which last year rebuffed its advances.
He said that while Stagecoach (up 0.2p at 190.8p) would look at acquisitions that enhanced shareholder value, the opportunity to buy NatEx ‘has passed’.
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