Statement re Pre-Close Trading Updates

FIRSTGROUP PLC
STATEMENT RE PRE-CLOSE TRADING UPDATES

In light of changes in regulatory requirements and market practice, the Board of FirstGroup plc (the 'Group'), has decided to discontinue publishing trading updates around the end of its March and September trading periods. Following discussions with a number of our shareholders and other stakeholders, the Group intends to continue publishing updates on trading after the end of the first and third quarters each financial year, in addition to its full year and half-yearly results. As a result, the number of trading announcements scheduled by the Group will decrease from six to four from our 2016/17 year onwards.

The Board confirms that overall results for the Group in the fourth quarter have been in line with management's expectations and there have been no significant developments since the release of our third quarter 2015/16 trading update (announced 28 January 2016).

The Group is scheduled to announce its full year results on 14 June 2016.

Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media
Tel: [phone]

Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Michael Harrison / Andrew Porter, Tel: [phone]

Notes
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 which may 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. 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. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast. Past performance cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America. With approximately £6 billion in revenues and around 110,000 employees, we transported around 2.4 billion passengers last year. Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North America, First Student is the largest provider of student transportation with a fleet of around 49,000 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 coach services. In the UK, FirstGroup is one of Britain's largest bus operators running a fleet of some 6,300 buses, and we are one of the country's most experienced passenger rail operators, carrying around 280 million passengers last year.

Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world... keeping people moving and communities prospering.

Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com