FirstGroup PLC on Wednesday said it delivered a ‘resilient’ financial performance despite a challenging UK backdrop as it saw its interim profit plummet.
In the six months ended September 24, the Aberdeen, Scotland-based firm’s total pretax profit plunged to £8.7 million from £516.5 million, on a statutory basis.
This was due primarily to the costs related to the restructuring of its First Bus division and the negative impact of its discontinued operations, First Student, First Transit and Greyhound Lines.
The company reported an interim loss on discontinued operations of £28.6 million, swung from a gain of £592.3 million a year ago.
As a part of the restructuring of First Bus, FirstGroup sold its First Scotland East business in September, realising a loss of £3.7 million as part of the disposal.
In additional, restructuring costs of £1.3 million were incurred as part of the company’s ongoing cost efficiency initiatives.
Pretax profit from its continuing operations, however, swung to a profit of £37.0 million from a loss of £64.5 million the previous year.
Total statutory revenue fell 29% year-on-year to £2.21 billion from £3.11 billion, while revenue from continuing operations inched up to £2.21 billion from £2.14 billion, thanks to increased passenger revenue in First Bus.
FirstGroup’s net debt rocketed to £1.48 billion at September 24, up sharply from £234.2 million at the same time a year prior.
FirstGroup declared an interim dividend of 0.9 pence per share. Last year, it did not declare an interim dividend.
Looking ahead, the firm said its expectations for the full-year are broadly unchanged, despite a shift in mix between its bus and rail divisions.
Shares in FirstGroup were down 9.5% at 96.80 pence on Wednesday afternoon in London.
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