UK transport operator FirstGroup PLC said it has delivered another strong performance throughout the second half of the year to end-March and expects to announce full year results in line with management expectations.
In a pre-close trading update, it said the UK Bus business continues to perform strongly and is expected to achieve like-for-like revenue growth of 7.3 percent for the year.
Despite the weaker economy, UK Rail is delivering good revenue growth, albeit at a slower rate. Like-for-like passenger revenue growth is expected at 7.6 percent.
In North America, school bus, transit and services businesses provide a contracted stream of revenue with an order book representing US$11.5 billion. With clear medium-term visibility these revenues remain resilient and stable despite global economic trends. “We continue to see an unprecedented level of enquiries from the public sector for outsourced transit and school bus services,” FirstGroup said.
“While no business can be immune from this recessionary environment, we are well positioned to withstand the economic headwinds and remain confident in the underlying strength of our businesses,” it added.