Bus ticket milestone as Firstgroup suffers loss

Firstgroup has reversed further into the red but revealed that more bus passengers paid with contactless and mobile apps rather than cash on its local bus routes for the first time.

The Aberdeen-headquartered transport giant said 43 per cent of payments were made by cash, with 45 per cent made through non-cash methods. The remainder came from ticket sales via third parties. The news came as the firm posted a £187.1 million statutory pre-tax loss for the six months to 30 September, from a deficit of £4.6m a year earlier, due to ongoing problems in its US Greyhound coach business.

On the company’s preferred underlying basis, which excludes one-off costs, it recorded a pre-tax profit of £28.7m, down from £42m. The group is in the process of selling the Greyhound division and chief executive Matthew Gregory said several interested parties have come forward.

TELEPHONE: 0131 311 7628