Britain's Go-Ahead sees higher annual earnings amid turnaround

(Reuters) - Britain's Go-Ahead forecast on Wednesday its 2022 earnings to exceed estimates as the transport operator recovers from a challenging period involving financial irregularities and as bus passenger numbers surpassed 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

The group, which runs Britain's largest passenger rail contract and more than 6,000 buses in England, said its like-for-like operating profit rose 17.7% to 6.4 million pounds ($8.05 million) for the six months ended Jan. 1, 2022.

($1 = 0.7953 pounds)

(Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)