Britain's National Express looks to expand in North America

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - British transport company National Express (LSE: NEX.L - news) said it would focus on growth opportunities in North America this year, after reporting a rise in 2014 pretax profit on a strong performance in its UK bus and coach operations.

Pretax profit rose 7 percent to 145.5 million pounds ($226.12 million) on a constant currency basis, slightly ahead of a Thomson Reuters consensus forecast of 142.2 million, helped by revenue growth across all of its divisions.

National Express, which operates rail services in Britain as well as school buses in the United States, said it would now look for expansion opportunities, having focused on debt reduction and dividend growth.

"There are excellent opportunities in the North American market given its highly fragmented nature," the company said in a statement on Thursday.

It also said it would raise its full-year dividend by 3 percent to 10.3 pence per share.

($1 = 0.6435 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Jason Neely)