REG-FirstGroup PLC: Statement re further government funding for bus industry

FirstgroupAnnouncement

10/08/2020 07:05

FIRSTGROUP PLC STATEMENT RE:
FURTHER GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR BUS INDUSTRY

FirstGroup plc (‘FirstGroup’ or ‘the Group’) welcomes the extension of
funding from the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) to support the provision
of vital services by regional bus operators in England during the coronavirus
pandemic. The new funding round of £218.4m for the industry under the
COVID-19 Bus Service Support Grant Restart (‘CBSSG Restart’) programme
extends the arrangements previously announced at the end of May for the next
eight weeks. Furthermore, the Government has confirmed that rolling funding of
up to £27.3m per week will continue to be made available under the programme
thereafter, until such time as it is no longer needed. This commitment, on
substantially the same terms as previously announced, demonstrates the value
placed on bus services to support the restart of local economies, get people
back to work and children back to school from September.

The programme has already allowed the industry to increase bus service
capacity while maintaining social distancing in support of our communities as
Government guidance on use of public transport services has begun to ease.
First Bus operations across England have increased operated mileage from c.40%
to almost 90% of pre-pandemic levels, with passenger volumes increasing from
c.10% to c.40% since the low point.

The Group also welcomes the Scottish government’s announcement of additional
expenditure of up to £68m to extend to 8 November the similar funding scheme
it has in place for Scotland’s bus operators.

Commenting on the announcements, FirstGroup Chief Executive Matthew Gregory
said:

"The further funding packages confirmed by the UK and Scottish Governments
enable us to keep people travelling safely on our essential services, allowing
social distancing to be maintained on our vehicles. Bus networks are vitally
important to local economies, both now as people return to education and
workplaces, and in the future as they offer a sustainable transport
alternative to the car.

“Recently we have introduced a number of additional measures to ensure we
continue offering a safe experience for our customers and also help them to
make more informed travel decisions. This includes seat signage, enhanced and
long-lasting anti-viral cleaning regimes, and upgrades to our mobile app so
that customers can check in real time how full each bus is and the
availability of wheelchair spaces. In the last few weeks we began two more
such initiatives, a pilot scheme in Bristol which allows key workers to book
reservations on specific buses, and a new tool for passengers initially
launched in Glasgow, which predicts how busy a given bus will be depending on
the time of day, for up to seven days in advance.

“I want to express my thanks to our people who are working so hard to keep
our crucial bus services running for our communities."

Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Communications
corporate.comms@firstgroup.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354

Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Andrew Porter / Simone Selzer, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR
6 Annex 1R: 3.1.

Figures presented in this announcement are not audited. Certain statements
included or incorporated by reference within this announcement may constitute
‘forward-looking statements’ with respect to the business, strategy and
plans of the Group and our current goals, assumptions and expectations
relating to our future financial condition, performance and results. By their
nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
assumptions, uncertainties and other factors that cause actual results,
performance or achievements of the Group to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on the forward-looking statements. Except as required by the UK
Listing Rules and applicable law, the Group does not undertake any obligation
to update or change any forward-looking statements to reflect events occurring
after the date of this announcement.

About FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading provider of transport services in the
UK and North America. With £7.8 billion in revenue in 2020 and around 100,000
employees, we transported 2.1 billion passengers. Whether for business,
education, health, social or recreation – we get our customers where they
want to be, when they want to be there. We create solutions that reduce
complexity, making travel smoother and life easier. We provide easy and
convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and
communities. Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North
America, First Student is the largest provider of home-to-school student
transportation with a fleet of 43,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is
one of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting
services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide operator of scheduled
intercity coaches. In the UK, First Bus is one of Britain's largest bus
companies with 1.4 million passengers a day in 2020, and First Rail is one of
the country's most experienced rail operators, carrying 340 million passengers
in the year. Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us
@firstgroupplc on Twitter.

About First Bus
FirstGroup is one of the UK’s largest bus operators with around a fifth of
bus services outside London. A fleet of some 5,200 buses carries approximately
500m passengers annually, serving two thirds of the UK’s 15 largest
conurbations. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland. Making journeys
easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator to accept
contactless card payments across all of our services. Our most recent
investments are in new, state-of-the-art buses across our key networks. We
work proactively with our local authority partners, making a positive impact
on air quality, tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are
focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a low-carbon
future and are committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035.



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