Further progress across rail and bus divisions underpinned by significant investment in growth, diversification of earnings and decarbonisation positioning the Group well, ahead of industry transition:
- FY 2025 Group adjusted revenue of £1,370.0m (FY 2024: £1,279.6m) reflects strong underlying First Bus performance, higher variable fees in First Rail DfT TOCs and further growth in open access rail
- Group adjusted operating profit increased to £222.8m (FY 2024: £204.3m), driven by First Bus rising £12.4m to £96.0m and First Rail up £5.5m to £148.8m
- Adjusted EPS growth to 19.4p (FY 2024: 16.7p) with earnings growth further supported by repurchases of 54.8m shares during FY 2025
- Final dividend of 4.8p per share proposed with FY total of 6.5p (FY 2024 total: 5.5p)
- Additional £50m buyback programme announced
- c.£92m returned to shareholders via buyback programmes in FY 2025
- Significant investment in growth diversification and decarbonisation:
- £90m acquisition of RATP London with a c.12% share of London bus market
- further c.£35m of bolt-on acquisitions to grow First Bus’s Adjacent services market share
- £88m investment in First Bus, mostly on decarbonisation in FY 2025 net of £22m of government co-funding
- acquisition of track access rights for two new open access rail services to double existing capacity
- c.£500m order for 14 new, UK-manufactured Hitachi trains to facilitate First Rail open access growth, with an option to invest an additional c.£460m should our ongoing applications be approved
- Strong cash conversion and balance sheet strength maintained; adjusted year-end net debt of £86.9m