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FirstGroup PLC on Tuesday celebrated ‘continued progress’ with First Bus revenue jumping in its latest year, although overall revenue fell and it reported a pretax loss due to the cost of a pension scheme settlement. The Aberdeen-based transport company swung to a £18.8 million loss in the financial year that ended March 30, compared with the prior year’s £97.1 million profit. However, this was due to a local government pension scheme settlement and related charges of £146.9 million. On an adjusted basis, removing this, pretax profit rose 40% to £136.8 million from £97.9 million. Operating profit fell to £46.5 million from £153.9 million, and FirstGroup’s basic loss per share was 1.5 pence following financial 2023’s 10.6p earnings per share. The company declared a final dividend of 4.0p per share for the year, up 37% from 2.9p and increasing the total payout by 45% to 5.55p from 3.8p per share. Revenue from continuing operations decreased 0.8% to £4.72 billion from £4.76 billion. First Bus total revenue increased to £1.01 billion from £902.5 million, while passenger revenue jumped 17% to £768.1 million from £660.0 million. First Rail revenue, however, fell to £3.74 billion from £3.89 billion. FirstGroup also celebrated further progress in the electrification of the First Bus fleet and infrastructure, with around 300 buses delivered in financial 2024. This brought total electric bus numbers to around 600, or 13% of the total fleet. Looking ahead, FirstGroup said current trading and its full-year outlook remain in line with its expectations. These include ‘progressive growth’ for First Bus with ‘steady progression’ towards a 10% adjusted operating profit margin in the second half. ‘We have made considerable progress in our financial and operational performance in FY 2024 as we continue to transform and grow our leading First Bus and First Rail businesses,’ commented Chief Executive Officer Graham Sutherland. ‘This is testament to the resilience and capability of our people across the group and leaves us well positioned to grow and create further value for all our stakeholders. ‘Our focus remains on working with government and all our stakeholders to deliver for our customers and drive modal shift. We will continue...building out our adjacent electrification opportunities in First Bus, and investing to grow and diversify our portfolio to ensure our business remains profitable and resilient in the long-term.’ Shares in FirstGroup were down 1.7% at 166.70p each on Tuesday morning in London. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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