AGM Statement

FirstGroup PLC
13 July 2006





Thursday 13 July 2006



        Extracts from presentations made to shareholders at the Group's

                   Annual General Meeting in Aberdeen today:



'The Group reported another year of excellent progress across all divisions. We
have a clear strategy to deliver value for shareholders by growing our core
businesses in the UK and North America and developing transport-related
opportunities in new markets.  We will continue to use the Group's strong and
predictable cashflows to invest in our businesses, increase the annual  dividend
by 10% until at least 2008 and, where appropriate, make share repurchases, while
maintaining our strong balance sheet.



'We are delighted with the performance of our Rail division. All of our
operations performed extremely well delivering record revenue and profits. This
demonstrates the strength of our rail franchises which have continued to deliver
strong passenger volume growth.  We have now secured additional longer-term
revenue of over £1 billion per annum for up to 10 years with the award of the
two new enlarged rail franchises First Great Western and First Capital Connect.
We are now the UK's largest passenger rail operator and will continue to build
on our reputation for innovation, investment and customer service.  We have now
submitted our bid for the new South Western franchise and remain confident about
the Group's future opportunities in UK railways.



'In UK Bus revenue growth has continued to be strong and we have seen an
encouraging trend of increased passenger journeys for the UK bus division as a
whole. While significant cost increases, in particular fuel, continue to impact
margins our strategy is to focus on operational performance while managing costs
through more efficient practices and increased productivity.  Our continued
focus on service quality together with actions we've taken have delivered
improved vehicle reliability, increased mileage operated to its highest level in
four years and eliminated driver shortages.   In May this year we launched 'ftr'
our premium urban travel concept in York. The second 'ftr' scheme will launch in
Leeds later this year and we are evaluating plans for further schemes in cities
such as Sheffield, Swansea, Reading, Bath and Glasgow.  The Government's new
concessionary fares schemes offering free travel for senior citizens and
disabled people were launched on 1 April 2006. We are encouraged by early
indications that show the schemes are working well and concessionary fare
passengers are making additional journeys.



'Our North America business performed well during the year. Since we entered the
market we have delivered consistent returns with EBITDA growth of approximately
13% per annum since 2000.  In First Student, where we operate over 21,000 yellow
school buses, we were pleased to retain over 95% of existing contracts that came
up for renewal and improve contract terms to better reflect the cost pressures
we face. We continued to grow our market share through a combination of new
contract wins, organic growth and acquisitions.  In First Transit we were very
pleased to retain a number of important contracts that came up for renewal
including transit management and contracting business in Los Angeles and Denver.
First Services continued its successful growth with a good trading performance
and also an improved operating margin. In October we commenced operation of a
substantial contract to provide land based support systems to the US Navy.  Last
week we were delighted to learn that we have retained, with our joint venture
partners, a significant contract, to provide support services to the US Navy for
up to 10 years.



'The board remains confident about the prospects for the Group. Trading in the
first three months of the year has started well and is ahead of our
expectations.'



FirstGroup contacts on 13 July 2006:

Rachael Borthwick, Group Corporate Communications Director        07771 945 432

Stuart Bugg, Corporate Communications Manager 07734 577 684  / 
David Whitton, PR  07771 941 170



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