Government funding for England's bus industry

FIRSTGROUP STATEMENT RE:
GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR ENGLAND’S BUS INDUSTRY

FirstGroup plc (‘FirstGroup’ or ‘the Group’) welcomes the announcement by the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) of financial support for crucial services provided by regional bus operators in England (the ‘arrangements’). Buses are an important part of our country’s critical infrastructure and economy and during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic they are particularly essential in supporting key workers getting to work. This new funding could total £167m across the industry and completes a comprehensive package of measures for supporting vital bus services and networks at the current time.

The arrangements will last for a span of at least the next three months and build on previous commitments received:

• The DfT, Scottish and Welsh Governments will continue the Bus Service Operators Grant at levels prior to the pandemic
• The Scottish and Welsh Governments will reimburse grant funding and concessionary fares at pre-pandemic levels
• Contract tenders (and concessionary fares in England) are set by local authorities and the national and devolved governments have directed local authorities to retain these at their previous levels.

Today’s announcement enables the Group’s First Bus division to ensure continuity of operation for those who are dependent on the bus network, particularly key workers, during the pandemic. The Traffic Commissioners have previously agreed with bus operators that service provision can be rapidly adjusted to meet reduced demand, without any of the usual notice periods, given the pace at which the situation is evolving. First Bus is generally providing services at weekend frequencies to ensure services for key workers continue to run, and we will now work through the detail of these services with local authorities and other key stakeholders to ensure that bus provision continues at an appropriate level for each town and city we serve.

First Bus is one of the country’s largest bus companies, operating approximately 20% of regional bus services in the UK and Ireland. Since the pandemic began, we have seen fare-paying passenger revenue and concessionary volume declines of around 90%.

Commenting, Matthew Gregory, FirstGroup Chief Executive, said:
“I am pleased that by working with the DfT, devolved government and local authorities, we are demonstrating that we are able to secure the necessary support to continue running bus services, recognising the unique and essential role they play in sustaining our local economies and communities.

“These arrangements will enable us to continue working closely with councils and our other local stakeholders to ensure that key workers can reach their destination, be it hospitals, supermarkets or distribution centres. When the present restrictions on travel are over, we will be ready to work quickly to re-connect people and communities as the country emerges from the effects of the pandemic and a return to normality is sought. I want to express my gratitude and thanks to all our employees who are working so hard to keep buses going at this difficult time.”

Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Communications
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Andrew Porter / Simone Selzer, Tel: [phone]

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R: 3.1.

Figures presented in this announcement are not audited. Certain statements included or incorporated by reference within this announcement may constitute ‘forward-looking statements’ with respect to the business, strategy and plans of the Group and our current goals, assumptions and expectations relating to our future financial condition, performance and results. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors that cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Group to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Notwithstanding the mitigations and emergency measures already disclosed by the Group, the overall impact of the coronavirus pandemic will have on the financial performance and prospects of the Group in the near as well as the medium to longer term remains extremely unclear. The situation is evolving very rapidly and while every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information in this announcement, the impact coronavirus is having on the performance of the Group means such statements should be treated with extra caution. Except as required by the UK Listing Rules and applicable law, the Group does not undertake any obligation to update or change any forward-looking statements to reflect events occurring after the date of this announcement.

About FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading provider of transport services in the UK and North America. With £7.1 billion in revenue and around 100,000 employees, we transported 2.2 billion passengers last year. Whether for business, education, health, social or recreation – we get our customers where they want to be, when they want to be there. We create solutions that reduce complexity, making travel smoother and life easier.

We provide easy and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and communities.

Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North America, First Student is the largest provider of home-to-school student transportation with a fleet of 43,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide operator of scheduled intercity coaches. In the UK, First Bus is one of Britain's largest bus companies with 1.6 million passengers a day, and First Rail is one of the country's largest and most experienced rail operators, carrying 345 million passengers last year.

Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us @firstgroupplc on Twitter.

About First Bus
FirstGroup is one of the UK’s largest bus operators with around a fifth of bus services outside London. A fleet of some 5,700 buses carries approximately 566m passengers annually, serving two thirds of the UK’s 15 largest conurbations. We operate some US-style yellow school buses and have a fleet of coaches available for charter. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.