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magazineFirstGroup shares up 42% this year after string of good news
Shares in the FTSE 250 transport company FirstGroup (FGP) have been on a strong run this year, up 42% as travel activity perks up. In March, it upgraded pre-tax profit expectations for the year thanks to a better performance with its bus operations (more passengers, fewer staff problems) and a better turn from its rail operations over the winter.
It then impressed investors with a strong set of full-year results on 8 June, with adjusted profit more than doubling to £82.1 million, ahead of expectations.
It spent £130 million on replacing some of its bus fleet with electric vehicles and revealed plans for a new source of income. While buses are ferrying passengers from A to B, FirstGroup plans to let third party businesses use its ultra-fast chargers located at bus depots, with trials already underway in Scotland.
Although the company was stripped of its TransPennine rail franchise in May following months of disruption, the group remained optimistic about its prospects.
The shares trade on 14 times expected earnings for the year to March 2024 versus circa eight-times pre-Covid and the nine to 13-times multiples for recent takeover approaches in the sector.
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