Green Hire Purchase Facility and further bond purchases

FIRSTGROUP PLC

Green hire purchase facility and further bond purchases

FirstGroup plc (the ‘Group’) is pleased to announce that it has signed a new, innovative £150m Green Hire Purchase Financing Facility with a syndicate of three banks to support the purchase of electric bus bodies (the chassis and drivetrain, excluding the battery) (the “Facility”). This follows the strategic Joint Venture with Hitachi to purchase up to 1,000 electric bus batteries announced by the Group in November 2023.

The Facility provides the funding for electric bus bodies, net of any government co-funding received, and is available for drawdown over three years, on a competitive fixed margin plus basis.  Funding under the Facility will be provided in tenors of either seven or ten years depending on the specific requirement at the time for each batch of vehicle bodies to be financed.

Whilst the total number of bus bodies to be financed will depend on a number of factors at the Group’s discretion, including forward curve pricing, the facility has been sized to support the purchase of up to 1,000 electric bus bodies and to broadly match the battery arrangements within the Hitachi Joint Venture.

In addition, the Group has continued to opportunistically purchase its 2024 6.875% bonds resulting in a reduction in future net interest cost. Purchases totalling £44.0m have been completed since the end of H1  2024 and as at 17 January 2024, £128.1m of the 2024 bonds now remain outstanding.

Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup Chief Executive Officer said:

“The innovative Green Hire Purchase Facility we have secured to support the purchase of electric buses represents another milestone for the Group. We continue to work hard to secure and optimise available funding to deliver on our First Bus decarbonisation commitment, build out adjacent electrification opportunities and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders.”

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R: 3.1.

About FirstGroup

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading private sector provider of public transport services. With £4.8 billion in revenue and around 30,000 employees, we transported more than 1.8m passengers a day in 2022/23. We create solutions that reduce complexity, making travel smoother and life easier. Our businesses are at the heart of our communities and the essential services we provide are critical to delivering wider economic, social and environmental goals. Each of our divisions is a leader in its field: First Bus is the second largest regional bus operator in the UK, serving two-thirds of the country’s 15 largest conurbations with a fleet of more than 4,500 buses, and carrying more than a million passengers a day. First Rail is the UK’s largest rail operator, with many years of experience running long-distance, commuter, regional and sleeper rail services. We operate a fleet of more than 3,500 locomotives and rail carriages through three management fee-based train operating companies (Avanti West Coast, GWR, SWR) and two open access routes (Hull Trains and Lumo). We are formally committed to operating a zero-emission First Bus fleet by 2035, and First Rail will help support the UK Government’s goal to remove all diesel-only trains from service by 2040. In February 2023 FirstGroup was named as one of the world’s cleanest 200 public companies for the fourth consecutive year by sustainable business media group Corporate Knights in partnership with US not-for-profit organisation, As You Sow. We provide easy and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and communities. Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us @firstgroupplc on X.