FirstGroup: Train and bus giant’s profits surpass targets as share price edges higher March 10, 2023 Transport operator FirstGroup said profits for the year are set to surpass previous targets after a pick up in bus and train demand. The firm, which runs TransPennine Express, saw shares edge higher after it said adjusted operating profits for the 2023 financial year will be above previous guidance. It said this comes after increased [...]
FirstGroup nears completion of £122m greyhound property portfolio sale December 16, 2022 Transport service provider FirstGroup has finalised the sale of all but two of its US legacy greyhound property portfolio to Twenty Lake Holdings in a £122m deal.
FirstGroup eyes long-term contract for Avanti following focus on improving timetables November 9, 2022 FirstGroup is working to deliver a long-term government contract for its hailed subsidiary Avanti as the group focuses on ensuring “acceptable” service levels to passengers. “Our complete focus in the second half will be on operational improvements and delivering acceptable passenger service levels,” chief executive Graham Sutherland told analysts this morning. Avanti made the headlines [...]
Hop on: Rail overtakes flights on busy London-Edinburgh route October 24, 2022 Rail has overtaken aviation as the preferred mode of transport to Scotland as one million people have chosen to travel from London to Edinburgh via electric train operator, Lumo. According to data released today, between April and August 57 per cent of the London-Edinburgh journeys were done by train – 22 per cent up on [...]
Avanti operator FirstGroup gets six-month extension from DfT to improve ‘unacceptable’ service October 7, 2022 FirstGroup has struck a short-term deal with the government to continue its contract for the West Coast Partnership (WCP) until Match next year. The Department for Transport placed the operator on a six-month contract and “challenged it to deliver the urgent increase in services required”. The deal includes the operation of Avanti West Coast, which [...]
FirstGroup sells off US legacy greyhound property portfolio for £122m September 20, 2022 Transport giant FirstGroup is to sell off almost all of its legacy greyhound property portfolio for £122m. The train and bus company announced it will sell all but two if its remaining sites in the US to Twenty Lake Management for net proceeds of $140m. With expected completion in December of this year, it said [...]
FirstGroup US bidder granted deadline extension July 21, 2022 FirstGroup’s US bidder I Squared was given until 18 August to make a firm offer for the transport giant. The company said it allowed the deadline extension as discussions with the US private equity were still ongoing. This was the second extension in a month provided to I Squared after FirstGroup rejected its £1.9bn offer [...]
First Group optimistic of returning bus passenger volumes amid takeover offer rejection June 14, 2022 Transport operator First Group has posted a £122.8m statutory operating profit from continuing operations while announcing a renewed national rail contract with the transport department for Great Western Railway. The new contract will commence when GWR’s current contractual agreement ends later this month, with a core three-year term to 2025. There will be an option [...]
First Group rejects £1.2bn takeover bid from private equity I Squared June 9, 2022 Public transport titan First Group has rejected a £1.2bn takeover bid from US private equity I Squared. FirstGroup is the latest UK company to be sought after by foreign investors, as rival Stagecoach was snatched from underneath National Express by German asset manager DWS in late May. In an update to the London Stock Exchange, [...]
Schroders opposes £1.2bn takeover of railway giant FirstGroup by US private equity firm June 5, 2022 Transport giant FirstGroup is facing a shareholder rebellion from Schroders over a proposed £1.2bn takeover bid from a US private equity firm. Schroders, FirstGroup’s biggest shareholder with a nearly 18 per cent stake, called I Squared Capital’s offer “unattractive”, adding that the figure failed to reflect FirstGroup’s weight in the UK’s railway sector. FirstGroup [...]