LONDON: The Aberdeen-based company said that revenues in its UK bus business in its first quarter, which started on April 1, were up by 1.4 per cent on the same period of last year on a like-for-like basis.
It said that commercial passenger revenue in the UK bus division, which includes major operations in Glasgow, continued to grow at an overall year-on-year rate of more than two per cent. It noted this growth had been offset partially by a reduction in concessionary travel revenue.
A FirstGroup spokesman said things were “going pretty well” in the Glasgow bus business, highlighting the company’s opening of the major Caledonia depot on the south side of the city.
FirstGroup underlined scope for further progress from its “transformation programme” and its medium-term aim of achieving double-digit-percentage profit margins in its UK bus business.
The company declared it had made “good progress” in its contract-pricing strategy in its North American school bus business, First Student. FirstGroup added that it was achieving average price increases of more than five per cent, and a contract retention rate in excess of 80 per cent.
