FirstGroup plc (FGP) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Watch the replay and follow the connected company analysis, news, and investor updates for Firstgroup Plc.

Watch the replay

Replay transcript excerpt

WEBVTT 00:00:00.031 -- 00:00:05.822 Good morning and welcome to First Group's 2026 half-year results presentation. 00:00:05.822 -- 00:00:09.429 In a moment, I will hand over to Ryan to take you through the financial performance for 00:00:09.429 -- 00:00:13.837 the first half of the year. I will then provide an update on business performance in 00:00:13.837 -- 00:00:17.544 bus and rail before we take your questions at the end. 00:00:17.544 -- 00:00:20.987 Moving on to slide three. 00:00:21.901 -- 00:00:26.145 I'm pleased to report another strong half for the group, despite several economic and 00:00:26.145 -- 00:00:31.271 policy headwinds. Strong execution has ensured that we've been able to fully counter 00:00:31.271 -- 00:00:36.736 the negative impacts of lower bus funding in England, above inflation wage pressures 00:00:36.736 -- 00:00:40.500 and higher levels of employer national insurance contributions. 00:00:40.500 -- 00:00:45.145 Group adjusted revenue, which does not include the national rail contract revenues, where 00:00:45.145 -- 00:00:50.880 we take substantially no revenue risk, has increased by 30% to £834 00:00:51.283 -- 00:00:52.825 million. 00:00:52.825 -- 00:00:58.112 This was largely driven by growth in First Bus due to the acquisition of First Bus London 00:00:58.112 -- 00:01:00.876 which completed in February. 00:01:00.876 -- 00:01:06.360 Adjusted earnings per share for the half year has increased by 16% to £9.9 00:01:06.984 -- 00:01:12.051 with earnings growth supported by the repurchase of circa 22 million shares 00:01:12.051 -- 00:01:17.299 during the period. As a result of her strong performance in the first half, the Board 00:01:17.299 -- 00:01:23.069 has proposed an interim dividend of 2.2 pence per share, up 29% 00:01:23.069 -- 00:01:25.313...