Half-year profit up 14% at 'robust' FirstGroup

TIM O'Toole, who took the driving seat at FirstGroup earlier this week, yesterday said he had inherited a company in "robust" shape from his predecessor Sir Moir Lockhead as half-year profits jumped 14 per cent.

Improved revenues across all of the transport group's divisions - apart from its American yellow school bus business, First Student - pushed the adjusted pre-tax result to 77.7 million, up from 68m last year.

O'Toole said the firm had also exceeded cash generation expectations and revised its full-year target up to 180m from 150m. Net debt was down almost 8 per cent at 2.19 billion.

In his first presentation to the City, the 54-year-old American said he had no plans to deviate from Lockhead's strategy. Although the company's First Transit business, which offers services such as shuttle buses to other corporates, performed particularly well during the half year, O'Toole insisted he would have no single focus.

He said the group, which owns a quarter of the UK's passenger rail network including ScotRail, would continue to look at "opportunities" across all of its divisions.

Revenues at US-based First Transit grew 5.5 per cent compared with 4.4 per cent revenue growth at the firm's UK rail division and 1.3 per cent expansion at its UK bus division.

First Student suffered a 0.9 per cent decline as a result of US school budget constraints. The interim dividend was raised 7 per cent to 7.12p.