FirstGroup Plc - Directorate Change
Director change
The transition and appointment of a new Chairman will be led by
During his tenure, David has undertaken a refresh of the skills and experience on the Board and successfully overseen a significant change of strategy amidst the challenging pandemic period, repositioning the Group to a leading public transport business with a strong balance sheet and delivering significant realisation of value for shareholders:
-- Sale of the North American First Transit, First Student and Greyhound businesses -- A subsequent £500m tender offer to shareholders and a significant de-risking of the balance sheet and a reduction in pension liabilities including a £220m contribution to the First Bus pension scheme -- Reinstatement of dividend payments from the end of FY 2023 -- Returning £190m to shareholders via two share buyback programmes
In FY 2024, the Group delivered a material increase in profit driven by continued progress in both First Bus and First Rail, further underpinning the Group's strong balance sheet and diversification in earnings.
"I am proud of the progress that we have made at
Contacts atFirstGroup :Marianna Bowes , Head of Investor Relations Contacts at Brunswick PR: Stuart Butchers, Head of Corporate CommunicationsAndrew Porter /Simone Selzer corporate.comms@firstgroup.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354
Contacts at Panmure Liberum: Contacts atRBC Europe Limited :Nicholas How /John Fishley James Agnew /Jack Wood Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2000 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 4000
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements included or incorporated by reference within this document 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. No statement in this document should be construed as a profit forecast for any period. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Except as required by the
Notes
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R: 3.1.
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