Profits will return slower than passengers for Britain's biggest coach company.

National Express, which operates across the county to destinations all over the UK, recently told investors that it expected average profit margins of nine per cent between 2022 and 2027, as reported by The Times.

But now the operator, which carries 17 million passengers per year, has warned that profit margins this year will be just seven per cent.

It has been hit by wage increases for staff and the need to keep fares low to get passengers back, as well as issues with its operations in the USA.

But National Express said that several of its main intercity routes in the UK have fully recovered and airport passenger numbers were about two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels and continuing to improve.

Shares in the company fell by 9.5 per cent as a reaction to the news.