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UK public transport operator running bus services (First Bus) and UK rail franchises.
UK public transport operator running bus services (First Bus) and UK rail franchises.
After selling its North American businesses it is a UK-only operator. Bus income comes from fares plus local-authority contracts and funding, while its trains run mostly under government management contracts that pay a fee, leaving the state with the passenger-revenue risk, plus open-access routes such as Lumo that carry that risk themselves.
In one line: A UK public-transit operator, akin to a Stagecoach/National Express peer.
Moat: narrow (regulatory licence, installed base, scale). Regulated bus/rail franchise licenses and route networks are hard to replicate.
Headquarters: Aberdeen, UK · Founded: 1995 · Employees: 30,513
Size FirstGroup (FGP.L) is a United Kingdom Industrials company (Other Transportation) with a market value of $1.60B, the 184th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £232.40 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 40.0%, against -2.8% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — 2nd highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 6.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +4.5%); the operating margin is 4.6% (peer median 17.7%).
Valuation It trades at 11.4× forward earnings against a peer median of 13.6× (7th cheapest of 15).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -8% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +2%, so the hurdle is -10 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.6 points above its cost of capital (7.8% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 12 Nov 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £4.75B | £4.75B | £5.23B | £4.72B | £4.75B |
| Revenue growth | — | -9% | +11% | -1% | — |
| Gross profit | £219M | £2.05B | £2.50B | £2.29B | £2.24B |
| EBITDA | £784M | £737M | £821M | £703M | £738M |
| Net income | £118M | £118M | £128M | -£15.9M | £87.1M |
| Free cash flow | £379M | £379M | £611M | £342M | £406M |
| Capital expenditure | £253M | £253M | £156M | £219M | £178M |
| Total debt | n/a | £1.16B | £1.47B | £1.64B | £2.07B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FirstGroup FGP.L | $1.60B | +40% | -6% | 5% | 11.4× | -7.6% |
| Mobico MCG.L | $360M | +103% | +5% | 5% | 4.3× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | FGP.L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +24.3% | +0.1% | highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +40.0% | -2.8% | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -1.5% | -15.4% | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -6.2% | +4.5% | 5th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 4.6% | 17.7% | 2nd lowest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 11.4× | 13.6× | 7th cheapest of 15 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -7.6% | -1.0% | 5th least demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +1.9% | +5.6% | 5th lowest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -9.5 pp | -12.3 pp | 6th most demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +3.6 pp | -0.6 pp | 4th highest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 2.5× | 12.1× | cheapest of 13 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9× | 4.5× | 3rd least indebted of 13 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FirstGroup FGP.L | United Kingdom | $1.60B | +40% | -6% | 5% | 11.4× | -7.6% | +1.9% |
| Dongguan Development (Holdings) 000828.SZ | China | $1.57B | -3% | -4% | 39% | 10.7× | 0.7% | +4.4% |
| Sotetsu 9003.T | Japan | $1.55B | -4% | +9% | 13% | 10.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Evergreen Aviation Technologies 2645.TW | Taiwan | $1.67B | -8% | +10% | 17% | 16.2× | -1.0% | +11.2% |
| Shreeji Shipping Global SHREEJISPG.NS | India | $1.53B | +111% | +21% | 24% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Fujian Expressway Development 600033.SS | China | $1.51B | +1% | -3% | 47% | n/a | -16.1% | +5.6% |
| Shenzhen International 0152.HK | Hong Kong | $1.49B | -35% | +15% | 11% | 6.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Hamburger Hafen und Logistik HHFA.DE | Germany | $1.72B | -2% | +3% | 7% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Henan Zhongyuan Expressway 600020.SS | China | $1.43B | +5% | -11% | 20% | 9.4× | 5.9% | +5.4% |
| Nishi-Nippon Railroad 9031.T | Japan | $1.37B | 0% | +10% | 7% | 9.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Hainan Strait Shipping 002320.SZ | China | $1.88B | -34% | +4% | 23% | 70.1× | -0.5% | +36.7% |
| Tianjin Port 600717.SS | China | $1.89B | -2% | -8% | 18% | n/a | -14.6% | -1.6% |
| Westshore Terminals Investment WTE.TO | Canada | $1.90B | +16% | -16% | 33% | 26.3× | 11.9% | -2.6% |
| Hutchison Port Holdings Trust NS8U.SI | Singapore | $1.96B | +7% | +5% | 42% | 15.3× | -10.5% | +1.7% |
| NANKAI 9044.T | Japan | $2.03B | 0% | +7% | 15% | 13.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Xizang Tianlu 600326.SS | China | $1.24B | -35% | -8% | 0% | 26.3× | 24.9% | -13.0% |
| Shenzhen Airport 000089.SZ | China | $2.08B | -5% | +5% | 17% | 14.2× | -6.4% | +11.4% |
| Comfortdelgro C52.SI | Singapore | $2.19B | -10% | +9% | 9% | 15.0× | -8.2% | +9.3% |
| StorageVault Canada SVI.TO | Canada | $1.09B | -4% | +9% | 23% | n/a | 21.9% | +16.6% |
| Nagoya Railroad 9048.T | Japan | $2.38B | +8% | -2% | 5% | 11.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Shanxi Hi-speed 000755.SZ | China | $1.07B | -3% | +3% | 47% | n/a | -7.2% | +8.4% |