Stelios finds going hard for easyBus
EASYJET founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is in the middle of a bus war. He launched easyBus with fares from Milton Keynes to London from £1 - only to find rival National Express offering £1 fares too.
Haji-Ioannou is threatening to complain to the Office of Fair Trading. National Express 'rejects any claim of price dumping'.
EasyBus is Haji-Ioannou's latest launch. Outsiders estimate losses from new ventures at £130m. Only two - a search engine and credit cards - are yet making money. But easyGroup says: 'It is early days.'
The tycoon built easyJet into a £1.5bn group, but quit his executive role in 2002 and has yet to repeat the trick. To fund new ventures, Haji-Ioannou has sold £33m of easyJet shares in a year. They have dropped to 141p.
The biggest lossmaker, at £80m, is the easyInternetcafe chain which Haji-Ioannou says is now near breakeven. EasyHotel plans to charge from £5 a night for no-frills London rooms. EasyPizza will offer pizzas from £1 outside peak hours.
Could all these slice into the Haji-Ioannou fortune? He says: 'They're small bets.'
Does Stelios' 'easyEmpire' offer good value? Post your views in the Spending It Message Board.
