Board salaries on the up at FirstGroup despite dip in profits

FirstGroup chairman Martin Gilbert saw his pay package edge up by £5,000 to £191,000 in the year to 31 March, according to the Aberdeen-based transport giant's annual report.

Gilbert, founder and chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, joined the bus and rail operator's board in 1995.

Former London Underground managing director Tim O'Toole took home 591,000 in his first year as FirstGroup's chief executive, having been appointed chief operating officer on 14 June and then awarded the top job on 1 November.

And the pay for out-going boss Sir Moir Lockhead fell from 643,000 to 503,000 because he did not reach the end of the year in the role, stepping down to make way for O'Toole.

Last month, FirstGroup unveiled write-downs totalling 116 million, which sliced profits by 27 per cent to 127.2m, despite a 2.7 increase in overall revenues to 6.4 billion.

At the same time, the firm revealed that it would hand back its Great Western rail franchise to the UK government rather than extend it past 2013.

Instead, First will bid for a longer - and potentially more lucrative - deal on the route with the Department for Transport, despite the move knocking 60m off its profits.

Rebidding for First Great Western - which covers services from London's Paddington station to the Thames Valley and West Country - will reportedly save the group more than 800m in repayments to the UK government.

Speaking at the time of the announcement, O'Toole said that the decision to end the contract three years ahead of schedule and rebid was "the best tactical decision" for the group.

He said that four out of five of the group's businesses had performed "in line with or significantly better" than expectations, although the US-based First Student yellow school bus division's performance had been "disappointing".