Final Results
EMBARGOED UNTIL 7:00am on Wednesday 21 May 2014
FIRSTGROUP PLC
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2014
Group overview:
* Overall trading in line with expectations for the year, excluding the £14m
operating profit impact of unprecedented weather conditions on First
Student and Greyhound in the fourth quarter
* Adjusted operating profit increased by 5.5%, reflecting improved underlying
operating performances in four divisions, partially offset by slower
progress in First Student and the extreme weather
* Adjusted EPS fell 31.8% due to the dilutive effect of the rights issue
completed in June 2013
* Statutory operating profit and EPS substantially improved
* Net cash flow broadly flat for the year (excluding the proceeds of the
rights issue), in line with expectations
* Balance sheet strengthened, net debt: EBITDA ratio reduced to 2.2 times
from 3.4 times last year and new £800m five-year revolving credit facility
signed
* Disciplined investment programme underway, with gross capital expenditure
increasing by 15% in the period
* ROCE increased to 8.2% (2013: 7.0%) in line with expectations. Medium term
10-12% ROCE target and other financial targets maintained
* Dividend - taking together the current stage of the turnaround programmes
and our commitment to our capital programme, the Board has decided to
refrain from reinstating a dividend at this point
* Board changes - including the appointment of three new non-executive
directors with effect from 24 June 2014
2014 2013 Change
Restated1
Revenue £6,717.4m £6,900.9m (2.7)%
Adjusted2
- EBITDA3 £579.8m £585.7m (1.0)%
- Operating profit £268.0m £254.1m +5.5%
- Profit before tax £111.9m £90.9m +23.1%
- Attributable profit £79.3m £65.1m +21.8%
- EPS 7.5p 11.0p (31.8)%
Statutory
- Operating profit £232.2m £139.8m +66.1%
- Profit/(loss) before tax £58.5m £(28.9)m n/m
- Attributable profit/(loss) £54.2m £(17.8)m n/m
- EPS 5.1p (3.0)p n/m
Net debt4 £1,303.8m £1,979.1m (34.1)%
1Restated for adoption of IAS19 (revised) on pensions, the reclassification of
certain exceptional items and the impact of the rightsissue on EPS as explained
in note 2.
2Before amortisation charges, ineffectiveness on financial derivativesand
exceptional items. Allreferences to `adjusted' figures throughout this document
are defined in this way.
3Adjustedoperating profit less capital grant amortisation plus depreciation.
4Net debt is stated excluding accrued bond interest.
Operating summary:
* First Student - performance affected by historically severe weather;
accelerated programmes to address contract portfolio pricing and deliver
further cost savings
* First Transit - record of good growth and margin performance maintained
* Greyhound - underlying improvement in demand trends and continuation of
profitable expansion of Greyhound Express, partially offset by weather
disruption to the network
* UK Bus - step-by-step transformation plan progressing and delivering
sustainable improvements in key metrics
* UK Rail delivering solid revenue growth underpinned by continued passenger
volume increases and strong operational delivery
Commenting, FirstGroup's Chief Executive, Tim O'Toole said:
"We have made satisfactory progress on our key priorities in the year,
delivering earnings growth despite the historically severe weather in North
America. We saw good performances in four of our divisions partially offset by
slower progress in First Student, where driving forward our detailed recovery
plan is a key priority. Although part way through the current bid season, our
programme to address contract portfolio pricing has made encouraging progress,
though we recognise that we still have some way to go.
"The Group is broadly on track to achieve our medium term targets and, while we
are encouraged by progress so far, there remains a significant amount of work
ahead. We are confident that we have the right plans underway to build on our
market leading positions, strengthen the resilience of the Group, and return to
a profile of sustainable cash generation and value creation for the long term."
Contacts:
FirstGroup plc:
Rachael Borthwick, Group Corporate Communications Director
Faisal Tabbah, Group Investor Relations Manager
Stuart Butchers, Group Media Relations Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7291 0512
Brunswick PR:
Michael Harrison/Andrew Porter
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
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CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
I am pleased to have joined FirstGroup as Chairman, at a key stage of its
evolution. This is an important company, operating in five major divisions,
providing services to millions of customers in the UK and North America, is one
of the largest corporate employers, and a major contributor to the communities
in which we operate.
Since taking on the role at the beginning of the year, I have reviewed the
business plans and actively engaged on major decisions and forward plans with
the senior team. Essentially, I have found the challenges and opportunities
facing the company to be broadly in keeping with my initial expectations. I
have also met all of our major shareholders. It is fair to say that they are
very supportive of the Group, but are disappointed we have not matched this
support with appropriate returns. Turning this situation around is therefore
the first priority of the Board.
I am encouraged that the Group has an attractive portfolio of transport
businesses - each a leader in its market, and each with good growth and returns
prospects, particularly as the economies recover from the global financial
crisis. With the correct decisions and actions, we should be able to turn this
into acceptable returns for shareholders in the form of appropriate dividends
and capital growth that has eluded us more recently.
First Transit, Greyhound and UK Rail are delivering returns broadly in line
with what I would expect, though clearly we have significant opportunity for
further improvement.
On the other hand, two of our businesses, First Student and UK Bus, have not
performed, and are well short of their potential and delivering lower margins
than their competitors. Although both divisions have faced challenging economic
conditions in their respective markets, we cannot escape that we should have
managed them better. Progress has been made in addressing the performance of
these two divisions, with headway being made in UK Bus in particular, but there
remains much to do still. Fixing these and delivering the business plans we
announced recently is the Group's key priority.
Also, as a result of past acquisitions, and notwithstanding the rights issue
last year, Group leverage remains higher than its optimal long term level
despite the good strides made to reduce it over the past five years, and the
interest burden continues to weigh on the income statement. It will take some
years of good operating cash flow to bring this down to a more prudent level,
but we will consider ways to accelerate this. At the same time, some of the
businesses have, in the past, suffered from a lack of appropriate capital
investment and this has been boosted significantly in our business plans.
Taking together the current stage of the First Student and UK Bus recovery
programmes and our commitment to the capital investment programme, it will take
some time before the Group is able to deliver a profile of consistent surplus
cash that can be distributed to shareholders. As a result, the Board has
decided that we should refrain from reinstating a dividend at this point.
Having consulted with our major shareholders I am confident they will support
this decision. We will keep shareholders advised of progress in this respect.
The task of extracting greater value from First Student and UK Bus is
fundamental. Turning around performance in both of these divisions, as well as
delivering profitability and returns at least in line with our peers, would
generate additional cash flow to enable us to reduce leverage and increase
shareholder returns. Central to this is the need to make disciplined decisions
on pricing, productivity and capital allocation. I am confident these issues
are resolvable over time and my own experience in corporate recovery situations
should assist in this.
Turning to performance for the year, while below our ultimate potential, the
Group has performed broadly in line with expectations, once account is taken
for the extraordinary weather particularly in North America. Excluding
businesses sold this and last year, Group revenues have increased modestly, but
more importantly from a strategic perspective, adjusted operating profit
increased by 5.5%, adjusted profit before tax is 23.1% greater, and adjusted
profit attributable to ordinary shareholders has increased by 21.8%. Adjusted
EPS has fallen by 31.8%, principally due to the increased number of shares
following the rights issue. Adjusting for the proceeds of the rights issue,
Group cash flow was in line with guidance, reflecting the planned increase in
capital investment.
The Board was particularly encouraged by the performance of First Transit,
Greyhound, UK Bus and UK Rail this year. UK Bus, while still working through
its transformation programme, is beginning to show that it is on the right
track. First Student's slower progress however, which was heavily affected by
the unusual winter weather, was disappointing.
A strong, experienced and diverse Board with the right mix of skills and
experience will be essential to the successful execution of the transformation
programme, by providing strategic oversight to management as well as rigorous
and robust challenge.
It is a natural process after periods of long service for Directors to retire
and for the Board to be refreshed. Accordingly, we have announced that John
Sievwright, David Begg, and Colin Hood will retire from the Board, and Warwick
Brady, Drummond Hall and Imelda Walsh will join the Board as Non-Executive
Directors, with effect from 24 June 2014. I am pleased to welcome Warwick,
Drummond and Imelda to the Board and I am delighted that such distinguished
directors have placed their faith in us. I would like to thank John, David and
Colin for their dedication and contribution to the company, and particularly
for their support to me as incoming Chairman.
On behalf of the Board I would also like to pay tribute to my predecessor
Martin Gilbert who stepped down from the Board on 31 December 2013 and, having
been involved with the Group since its formation, was instrumental in
establishing its position as the leading transport operator in the UK and North
America.
I have been impressed by the commitment and dedication of our people who remain
focused on the task of delivering high quality services to our customers. The
Board is grateful for the continued efforts and dedication of our 117,000
employees, particularly during what has been a challenging period for the
Group.
As I have spent time reviewing and challenging the strategy of the Group, my
early impression is that this is the right one for current conditions. We will
however continue to review other options that are financially compelling, as I
work with management and the Board over the coming months. Clearly it is
disappointing that we have not been in a position to declare a dividend for the
year, but we ask for shareholders' patience while we return the Group to a
dividend paying position.
Looking forward, although it is early days for me as your Chairman, I believe
we have correctly assessed the situation, are putting the right programmes in
place, and are taking the appropriate action to improve profitability, cash
generation and to strengthen the balance sheet.
With a resolute focus on bringing these issues to a successful conclusion, I
sincerely look forward to playing a pivotal role in the next stage of the
Group's evolution.
John McFarlane
Chairman
21 May 2014
Note: Operating profit referred to throughout this document refers to operating
profit before amortisation charges, ineffectiveness on financial derivativesand
exceptional items. EBITDA is adjustedoperating profit less capital grant
amortisation plus depreciation.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW
Our services help to create strong, vibrant and sustainable local economies and
our opportunity is to be the provider of choice for our customers and
communities. We have a unique competitive advantage as a result of our scale
and the diversity of our portfolio of market leading transport businesses: we
design and operate more networks, we hire and train more employees, we procure,
maintain and deploy more vehicles, and we work with more local communities than
any other operator. Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly
congested world… keeping people moving and communities prospering.
Our strategy
Our overall strategy is designed to leverage our scale by developing and
sharing our global expertise for the benefit of our local markets. In recent
years, although we have excelled in particular ways and at different times, we
have not delivered the overall financial performance that would reflect our
leading market positions. As a consequence, we are repositioning the Group for
improved growth and to restore us to a profile of consistent financial returns.
Last year, we strengthened the balance sheet to give us the flexibility to
invest in our transformation programme and set out detailed medium term
financial targets. Our strategic objectives under the transformation programme
are: focused and disciplined bidding in our contract businesses (First Student,
First Transit and UK Rail), driving growth through attractive commercial
propositions in our passenger revenue businesses (Greyhound and UK Bus),
continuous improvement in operating and financial performance, prudent
investment in our key assets (fleets, systems, and people), and responsible
partnerships with our customers and communities who rely on us and on whom, in
turn, we depend.
We are confident that successful execution of our strategy will deliver our key
medium term financial targets, which are to increase Group revenue (excluding
UK Rail) at a faster rate than the economies we serve, improve margins in First
Student and UK Bus to double digit levels and in Greyhound to 12%, and to
achieve a post-tax return on capital employed (ROCE) in the 10 to 12% range for
the Group as a whole. As importantly, our plans will create a more robust
company and one that is better placed to deliver on its potential.
Year in review
The year to 31 March 2014 has been one of repositioning and investing in the
Group to drive greater value from our market leading portfolio of businesses,
focusing on our people, our divisional performance and priorities and our
financial position.
Our people
In December 2013 we were delighted to announce the appointment of John
McFarlane as Chairman. The Group is already benefitting from his extensive
international experience and track record of strategic change and value
creation. The experience, skills and perspectives of our new Non-Executive
Directors Warwick Brady, Drummond Hall and Imelda Walsh will also be invaluable
to the Group as we drive forward our plans.
In January 2014 Dennis Maple joined the Group as President of First Student.
The wealth of experience that Dennis brings will be important as we build on
the cost savings actions already taken and accelerate our contract
repositioning programme to deliver double digit margins in the medium term.
During the year, UK Bus restructured its senior leadership team to ensure that
the necessary commercial and operational expertise is focused on our local
operations and to bring in new talent (over 30% of the management within the
division have been changed in the last two years). In the year, we have also
launched important Group-wide employee professional development, engagement and
diversity initiatives, which will strengthen our ability to deliver our
transformation programme.
Divisional performance and priorities
In the year, we made satisfactory progress with our key divisional priorities,
with good performances in four of our divisions partially offset by slower
progress in First Student. We also have clear plans in place for each of the
divisions to contribute to the Group's overall progress towards its medium term
targets:
First Student made progress in its recovery plan, achieving the $100m p.a. in
cost savings as planned. However, current cost inflation that marginally
exceeds the pricing adjustments provided for in our multi-year contracts,
together with an unprecedented amount of school closures due to the severity of
the North American winter season, meant that our rate of progress toward our
medium term objective of double digit margins was slower than we had targeted.
Going forward, First Student is accelerating its programme to address contract
portfolio pricing and focus capital on higher returning opportunities, and
targeting a further $50m p.a. of identified cost efficiencies.
First Transit delivered another year of strong growth and good margins, with
continued bid success across all segments. Going forward, First Transit will
continue to invest in its market leading people and solutions to deliver
further growth with attractive returns.
Although its reported results were negatively affected by the severe weather
which caused significant disruption to the network this winter, the underlying
performance in Greyhound indicates signs of a modestly improving market for its
traditional coach services. Our Greyhound Express and BoltBus point-to-point
brands continued to achieve strong profitable growth, benefitting from the
unique feed from our national network. Going forward, the modernisation of
Greyhound's IT infrastructure and web presence will deliver improved ticketing,
real-time pricing and yield management, and this, together with the continued
profitable growth of our point-to-point brands, will deliver our medium term
margin target of 12% for the division.
UK Bus has achieved overall passenger volume growth for the first time in
several years, as a result of the network transformations, fare reviews and
significant investments in fleet and service during the year. Going forward, we
will continue to improve our commercial proposition to drive passenger volume
growth and revenues, while continuing to strengthen operational discipline as
we make progress with our step-by-step plan to raise margins to double digits.
During the year, UK Rail delivered continued revenue growth underpinned by
robust passenger volume growth. Our train operating companies worked closely
with our industry partners to deliver both planned infrastructure and fleet
upgrades, and remedial work to restore services on parts of the network damaged
by flooding. First Great Western and First Capital Connect extended their roles
through direct awards from the Department for Transport (DfT) in the year. UK
Rail is currently shortlisted on five franchising competitions. Going forward,
UK Rail will participate in a range of franchise competitions to achieve profit
on a par with the last round of franchising, with an acceptable level of risk.
Our financial position
In June 2013, we received the net £584m proceeds of the rights issue which
strengthened our balance sheet and provided the necessary flexibility to
continue our transformation programme and invest to create sustainable value.
In May 2014, we signed a 5 year, £800m revolving credit facility with our
relationship banks. In addition to achieving better pricing and increased
flexibility in certain areas, the new facility gives us strong liquidity and a
stable financing platform to drive forward our transformation programme, with
our next debt maturity in October 2016.
Group outlook
We have made satisfactory progress on our key priorities in the year,
delivering earnings growth despite the historically severe weather in North
America. We saw good performances in four of our divisions partially offset by
slower progress in First Student, where driving forward our detailed recovery
plan is a key priority. Although part way through the current bid season, our
programme to address contract portfolio pricing has made encouraging progress,
though we recognise that we still have some way to go.
The Group is broadly on track to achieve our medium term targets and, while we
are encouraged by progress so far, there remains a significant amount of work
ahead. We are confident that we have the right plans underway to build on our
market leading positions, strengthen the resilience of the Group, and return to
a profile of sustainable cash generation and value creation for the long term.
Tim O'Toole
Chief Executive
21 May 2014
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW
Group revenue was £6,717.4m (2013: £6,900.9m), a decrease of 2.7%. Adjusting
for the UK Bus portfolio changes, the disposal of First Support Services (FSS)
in First Transit and the non-recurring London 2012 Games, like-for-like Group
revenue increased by 1.2%. Adjusted operating profit increased 5.5% to £268.0m
(2013: £254.1m), reflecting higher profits in UK Rail and First Transit
partially offset by reductions in the other divisions, including £14m profit
impact of unprecedented weather conditions on First Student and Greyhound in
the fourth quarter. Group margins increased, with improvements in UK Bus, First
Transit, and UK Rail more than offsetting declines in First Student and
Greyhound. Statutory operating profit was £232.2m (2013: £139.8m) reflecting
the increased adjusted operating profit and a much reduced charge for
exceptional items this year. Adjusted basic EPS decreased to 7.5p (2013:
11.0p), reflecting the increased number of shares in issue following the rights
issue, whereas attributable profit for the adjusted EPS calculation increased
by 21.8% from £65.1m to £79.3m in the year. EBITDA decreased 1.0% to £579.8m
(2013: £585.7m). ROCE1 improved to 8.2%, compared with 7.0% (as restated) for
the year to 31 March 2013.
The Group has reviewed its treatment of exceptional items, in particular
generally recurring costs associated with UK Rail bids and profit/(loss) on
property disposals. As a result, these items have been included in our measure
of adjusted results in this document and the prior year has also been restated
accordingly.
The net cash inflow for the year, excluding the net proceeds of £584.4m from
the rights issue, was £26.9m (2013: outflow of £74.4m). The net debt to EBITDA
ratio was 2.2 times (2013: 3.4 times). The average debt duration at 31 March
2014 was 6.1 years (2013: 5.4 years) and there was £988.5m (2013: £1,215.5m) of
headroom under committed facilities and free cash.
During the year gross capital expenditure of £464.7m (2013: £404.3m) was
invested in our business to continue the transformation programme and invest in
future growth. We continue to anticipate investing approximately £400m p.a. in
capital expenditure over the next three financial years in our businesses as we
pursue our medium term financial objectives, which are as follows:
* The Group aims to increase Group revenue (excluding UK Rail) at a faster
rate than the economies we serve, through careful investment in our
passenger revenue-based services, and disciplined bidding in our
contract-based businesses.
* First Student and UK Bus will improve margins to double digit levels
through the detailed recovery plans underway, Greyhound targets a margin of
approximately 12%, First Transit will continue its record of growth while
maintaining margins, and in UK Rail we will participate in a range of
future franchise competitions to achieve profit on a par with the last
round of franchising, with an acceptable level of risk.
* Overall the Group's objective is to achieve ROCE in the range of 10% to 12%
in the medium term, compared to 8.2% in the 2013/14 financial year.
* We also aim to maintain an investment grade credit rating and appropriate
balance sheet liquidity and headroom. The Group has net debt : EBITDA of
2.2 times as at 31 March 2014, and is targeting net debt : EBITDA of 2.0
times in the medium term.
1 Return on capital employed (ROCE) is calculated by dividing adjusted
operating profit after tax by all assets and liabilities excluding debt items.
Divisional results
Restated
Year to 31 March 2014 Year to 31 March 2013
Operating Operating Operating Operating
Revenue profit1 margin1 Revenue profit1 margin1
£m £m % £m £m %
First Student 1,467.4 93.5 6.4% 1,503.1 110.1 7.3%
First Transit 811.9 60.3 7.4% 814.6 49.1 6.0%
Greyhound 624.6 46.4 7.4% 647.1 54.3 8.4%
UK Bus 930.2 44.4 4.8% 1,128.2 50.8 4.5%
UK Rail 2,870.1 55.2 1.9% 2,795.1 19.3 0.7%
Group2 13.2 (31.8) 12.8 (29.5)
Total Group 6,717.4 268.0 4.0% 6,900.9 254.1 3.7%
North America in $m $m % $m $m %
US Dollars
First Student 2,339.3 152.8 6.5% 2,378.6 175.2 7.4%
First Transit 1,290.5 95.7 7.4% 1,286.8 77.7 6.0%
Greyhound 990.6 73.2 7.4% 1,022.0 85.2 8.3%
Total North 4,620.4 321.7 7.0% 4,687.4 338.1 7.2%
America
1Adjusted.
2Tramlink operations, central management and other items.
First Student
Revenue in our First Student division was $2,339.3m or £1,467.4m (2013:
$2,378.6m or £1,503.1m), 1.7% lower on a US Dollar basis, principally due to an
unprecedented number of school closures due to the abnormal weather conditions
across North America in the second half of our financial year. Operating profit
was $152.8m or £93.5m (2013: $175.2m or £110.1m), resulting in a margin of 6.5%
(2013: 7.4%), which also reflects school closures and the higher associated
operating costs during the unusually severe weather. 75% of our territory
suffered some impact from the extraordinary snow falls and extremely cold
conditions, with more than 4,000 school days lost, approximately twice the
impact we would expect to see in a typical year. A number of the lost operating
days may potentially be recovered in the summer term, which occurs in our 2014/
15 financial year. On an underlying basis, excluding the approximately $25m of
net weather impact for the year, First Student's margin would have been flat
compared with the prior year, reflecting the achievement of the $100m in annual
cost savings as planned, offset by cost inflation running slightly ahead of
price indexation in our multi-year contracts.
Focused and disciplined bidding
State and local finances have continued to improve modestly in the year; over
the 2013 bid season we achieved organic growth from within existing contracts
of more than 470 buses, almost double the rate of organic growth in the prior
year and equating to approximately 1% growth. We continue to be competitive in
the conversion market from in-house to the private sector, winning 55% of the
contracts bid for-and-awarded. We remain cautious about conversion growth
however, as only a small proportion of contracts put out to tender convert to
the outsourced sector, a trend we do not envisage changing in the medium term.
A number of our `share shift' contract wins were cost-effective expansions of
existing operations, such as for the Los Angeles Unified School District and
for Kansas City, Missouri. Our continuing focus on returns resulted in some
contract losses including several where, although the numbers of buses operated
were significant, their contribution to profits was limited. Overall contract
retention for the 2013 bidding season was around 90%, and the number of buses
operated fell by around 550.
Continuous improvement in operating and financial performance
We have continued to focus on delivering cost efficiencies during the year, an
area which remains an important component of First Student's recovery plan.
Having delivered $100m p.a. in cost savings in the year - through implementing
uniform best practice in driver operating procedures, maintenance, fuel use and
procurement - the business is enhancing its ability to generate returns,
despite continued cost inflation in the industry. The next phase of cost
savings, amounting to c.$50m, have been identified, and focus on optimising the
overhead structures of the business, together with ensuring full compliance of
ever more consistent operating procedures throughout our more than 500
locations. Two thirds of our engineering workshops have now achieved silver or
gold `lean' certification, up from a quarter in the prior year. Although
non-school charter results were impacted by the weather, growing 9.5% in the
period, we are pleased with the progress of our more structured approach to
this business, which delivers a very strong incremental return on capital
employed.
Prudent investment in our key assets
We continue to invest in technology to differentiate our offering, raise
customer service levels and promote environmental benefits. The roll out of our
FOCUS GPS system (which links on board data to back office systems) has been
completed and is delivering savings to plan, and the DriveSmart system (which
provides real-time fuel use feedback to drivers) is being fitted throughout the
fleet. In the second half we launched the MyFirstPass system in selected
locations, which gives parents and customers real-time information about
student ridership as they swipe on and off the bus. We invested approximately
$300m in new buses, refurbishments, on-board technology and facilities
improvements in the year; our average fleet age remains around 7.5 years.
Responsible partnerships with our customers and communities
First Student achieved a fifth consecutive year of improved customer service
scores, with particularly pleasing results in the important start up phase of
the school year.
We are achieving fuel efficiency improvements of around 5% across the division
through the DriveSmart system, and added approximately 500 alternative fuel
buses (mainly propane) to the fleet in the year. First Student's safety
performance is both a source of competitive advantage and, more fundamentally,
is deeply embedded in our culture and values.
Future priorities
First Student is a leader in its market in terms of both its size and the
quality and safety of the services it provides. Although the recovery plan
continues to make progress, more work remains to be done to ensure the division
delivers its medium term double digit margin target. At present, the division
deploys significant capital across parts of its contract portfolio that does
not attract a fair margin for the quality of service provided or an appropriate
rate of return on that capital. Therefore the division is working through a
programme to address contract portfolio pricing, focus capital on higher
returning opportunities and continues to drive further cost efficiencies
through the business. We remain confident in the ability of our detailed
recovery plan to improve margins to double digits over the medium term. In the
longer term, First Student will be increasingly well placed for growth through
further share shift, in-fill acquisitions, and organic opportunities.
Outlook
During the 2014 bid season, First Student is intensifying its focus on
retaining or winning contracts that deliver an appropriate level of return on
capital employed, which may result in some further losses of lower margin
contracts. To the extent this is the case, the division will cascade the freed
up vehicles to other opportunities, with a commensurate saving in capital
expenditure. Although this approach may result in a modestly smaller revenue
base and some short term costs, over the medium term this approach - coupled
with the further cost savings - will result in a more sustainably attractive
contract portfolio, which will deliver double digit margins and better returns
on capital. Although part way through the current bid season, our programme to
address contract portfolio pricing has made encouraging progress, though we
recognise that we still have some way to go.
First Transit
Revenue in our First Transit division was $1,290.5m or £811.9m (2013: $1,286.8m
or £814.6m). Adjusting for the disposal of FSS, US Dollar revenue increased by
8.0%, reflecting continued new business wins and organic growth within existing
contracts. All key segments saw growth in the year, led by fixed route,
paratransit and shuttle. Operating profit was $95.7m or £60.3m (2013: $77.7m or
£49.1m), resulting in a margin of 7.4% (2013: 6.0%), which reflects a strong
operating performance and the absence of the significant historic legal claim
settlement in the prior year.
Focused and disciplined bidding
During the year, First Transit continued to leverage its longstanding
management reputation and expertise to win new work. At the same time, through
its collaborative approach with its public transit authority and private
customers, the division also generated growth from increased utilisation of its
services under existing contracts. Contract retention remained above 90%,
reflecting high customer regard for our capabilities and the competitive
pricing of our services.
The largest award in the year was a paratransit contract for PACE, part of the
regional transport authority of Chicago, Illinois. We were also successful in
expanding our call centre work with an important win for the Chicago Regional
Transit Authority's Travel Information Center. Our shuttle business continues
to be successful, with further contract wins at Auburn University and the
University of Alabama at Birmingham joining other recent contracts including
for the University of Tennessee Knoxville and Brown University in our market
leading university portfolio. First Transit transitioned several large
contracts from other operators including the newly unified fixed route contract
for Valley Metro RPTA in Mesa/Tempe, Arizona, the MetroACCESS paratransit
contract in Washington, DC, and the Maryland Transit Administration paratransit
contract in Baltimore, MD. Important contract retentions this year included
fixed route services for the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission
in Woodbridge, VA, fixed and route and paratransit services for Johnson County,
Kansas, and shuttle services at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
Collaborating with our Fort McMurray oil industry partners resulted in further
revenue growth under existing contracts.
Continuous improvement in operating and financial performance
A significant proportion of First Transit's opportunities will continue to
arise from business outsourced to the private sector for the first time, where
our national service platform, technology infrastructure and management
expertise can deliver substantial cost savings compared to public provision.
Through a culture of continuous improvement and technology insertion, First
Transit has continued to maintain our ability to provide both exceptional
service and low cost for new and existing customers. For example, First Transit
has continued to improve operational efficiencies, including through the
refinement of our fixed route mileage optimisation programme which results in
reduced non-revenue time and mileage, paratransit productivity which improves
vehicle routing and scheduling efficiency, and direct and indirect cost
reductions through the negotiation of more competitive purchasing agreements.
Prudent investment in our key assets
First Transit focuses investment spending on three principal areas: people,
technology solutions and on vehicles for the shuttle segment, where typically
we own the fleet as well as delivering a service. To ensure we maintain the
depth and breadth of expertise required to consistently deliver high-quality
bid submissions and a subsequent service that meets customer expectations, we
maintained our significant investment in recruitment, retention and continuous
training of our people.
The division successfully initiated the roll out throughout the US of its
management IT system providing automated operational, maintenance and financial
information in the year, which will deliver significant cost savings. This
system will also allow us to offer real-time vehicle location information to
our customers. In shuttle, we continue to invest in state-of-the-art fleet
through a combination of direct investment and operating leases, where
commercially appropriate.
Responsible partnerships with our customers and communities
Our customer service trends continue to be positive, with our commitment to
safety, technical and operational knowledge and professionalism particularly
recognised by our customers.
We have enhanced our industry leading safety programme through the continued
roll out of DriveCam technology, an event capture and driver behaviour
monitoring system, which has the added benefit of improving fuel efficiency.
Future priorities
The continued success of First Transit depends on maintaining our competitive
advantage, which resides in the expertise of our people and the quality of our
technology. Both are vital components in delivering services that continue to
innovate and to deliver cost efficiencies, which in turn ensures we will be the
low cost supplier of choice for our customers. We see continued growth
potential in all of our existing segments, together with emerging outsourcing
opportunities in light rail, commuter rail, high speed rail and Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) in the US and internationally. Over the coming years, we
anticipate there will also be opportunities for targeted acquisitions of
complementary businesses, which would immediately increase market share,
leverage our scale and enhance profits and returns. We look forward to
leveraging our market position and reputation to deliver continued growth at
attractive margins.
Outlook
The pipeline of potential new business remains attractive, with a wide range of
bid opportunities to add to our portfolio of over 370 contracts. As we look
ahead to next year, current identified opportunities are weighted to fixed
route, paratransit and shuttle segments.
Greyhound
Greyhound's overall US Dollar revenue was $990.6m or £624.6m (2013: $1,022.0m
or £647.1m) with the reduction of 3.1% including the impact of severe weather
which caused significant disruption to the network in the fourth quarter.
Excluding weather, like-for-like revenue over the financial year was
approximately 0.7% lower, although the revenue growth trajectory improved over
the course of the year. Adjusted operating profit was $73.2m or £46.4m (2013:
$85.2m or £54.3m), resulting in a margin of 7.4% (2013: 8.3%). This margin
performance in part reflects the modestly improving economic conditions over
the course of the year and the continued profitable growth of our
point-to-point services, offset by the impact of weather-related disruption and
higher associated operating costs in the final quarter.
Driving growth through attractive commercial propositions
Greyhound's iconic brand is synonymous with long distance coach travel in North
America and our unique national network provides a significant competitive
advantage and an established base for future growth, by providing passenger
feed from the 42,000 city pairs that we offer as operating leverage to our
point-to-point services.
Whilst traditional Greyhound remains a largely cyclical business, our programme
of expansion in Greyhound Express and our other point-to-point brands continued
even during recent periods of economic fragility in North America. Greyhound
Express continues to perform well, with like-for-like revenue increasing by
more than 10% for the year. The multiple price points we now offer gives us
broader market potential and helps us to attract users back to coach travel as
well as encouraging new customer demographics. Greyhound Express now covers
more than 30% of our US network including most of the major city pairs. During
the year we launched Greyhound Express in additional markets including routes
around Vancouver, Edmonton to Grand Prairie, Dallas to Memphis, and from
Jacksonville to Miami and New Orleans. Our BoltBus services also expanded in
California, adding Los Angeles to San Francisco, San Jose to Oakland and Los
Angeles to Las Vegas, and our YO!Bus brand, which links Chinatowns in the
Northeast, saw positive year on year performance.
We are taking the experience from our point-to-point services and introducing
best practice across our traditional network. Greyhound is re-engaging with our
customers through increased marketing and has improved the amenities of our
fleet with multiple new and refurbished vehicles that provide leather seats,
WiFi and power sockets. We are further developing our dynamic pricing
proposition and opening up innovative ways to interact with both new and
existing customers through additional sales channels, such as our
mobile-enabled website which came online in 2013/14 with print at home
ticketing functionality, and the ability to book online and pay cash for
tickets in over 10,000 Seven Eleven and Ace Cash Express kiosks. In the last
two years, the proportion of tickets purchased online has increased from 34% to
47%.
Continuous improvement in operating and financial performance
Over the last five years we have significantly improved our operating
flexibility, in part through depot and location rationalisation. Our ongoing
efforts to right size our terminal footprint continues, and over the next few
months we expect to open new terminals in Miami, Seattle and Baltimore. We are
restructuring our Canadian business, have launched our Greyhound Express
product in four provinces, and are improving our package delivery offering,
which over time will deliver a more commercially viable service.
Prudent investment in our key assets
Our disciplined fleet investment has led to improved amenities for our
customers and prolonged the life of our buses, enabling us to reduce
maintenance costs and become more coordinated in the scheduling of preventive
maintenance programmes. Our move towards a revitalised fleet continues with
three quarters of our vehicles now either new or refurbished. We continue to
introduce new vehicles from our April 2013 order of 220 coaches, and during
2014/15 we will have completed our refurbishment programme.
Our investment in information technology will allow us to offer many new ways
to better leverage and monetise the existing network capacity through yield and
capacity optimisation, including the development of new dynamic pricing and
yield management systems across our core network. We are developing the
architecture needed to introduce a loyalty programme and increasing our
marketing, helping us to engage further with our customers.
Responsible partnerships with our customers and communities
With an increased emphasis on customer service training across the division,
our customer satisfaction scores have maintained their long term improving
trend.
Our new fleet now operates using some of the most fuel efficient engines in the
industry, and we continue to promote initiatives including a focus on reduced
idling and, through DriveCam, a more effective fuel consumption strategy.
DriveCam's event capturing and driver behaviour monitoring also provides us
with safety data. New terminals that we have opened recently or will open in
the short term have the most up to date environmental credentials and are LEED
certified by the US Green Buildings Council.
Future priorities
Since FirstGroup acquired Greyhound in 2007 we have transformed the operating
model, making the business more flexible and introducing a reduced cost base
and improved capital profile, which means that we are now poised for growth
both within our existing network and with new demographics through Greyhound
Express and our other point-to-point brands. We are on track with our
investment programme, which will transform our offering principally through
applying the yield management, real-time pricing and more consumer friendly
ticketing features of Greyhound Express to the traditional network. This
focused investment, together with the continued growth of our successful
point-to-point products, gives us confidence in achieving our medium term
margin target of 12%.
Outlook
Our main priority for the year ahead includes the further roll out of Greyhound
Express routes and progress on our IT transformation. During the first half of
the 2014/15 year we expect to begin piloting yield managed pricing on our
traditional network. We will also complete our programme of fleet
revitalisation; by the end of the financial year, all of our vehicles will be
new or refurbished, further increasing the attractiveness of our customer
offer. In 2014, Greyhound celebrates its centennial, and we plan to increase
marketing to ensure that as the economy improves, more and more of our
addressable market uses the services provided by our transformed iconic
American brand.
UK Bus
Revenue in our UK Bus division was £930.2m (2013: £1,128.2m) and like-for-like
passenger revenue growth (adjusting for the sale of our London business) was
1.8%. Adjusted operating profit was £44.4m (2013: £50.8m), resulting in a
margin of 4.8% (2013: 4.5%). This encouraging performance is despite the
continued challenges posed by economic conditions in some of our local markets
as well as further reductions in public funding.
During the year we completed the first stages of our transformation plan,
including the previously announced disposals of certain bus businesses in order
to rebalance the portfolio. As a result of this we exited the London market in
order to focus on our commercial deregulated businesses elsewhere. Our
transformation plans to return the division to double-digit margin performance
in the medium term are focused on: stimulating passenger volume through
improving our customer proposition (fares, networks, local partnerships),
delivering improved service quality and cost savings through rigorous focus on
disciplined operations and investment in our employees' capabilities; and
investing in our fleet, ticketing and other customer-facing technologies to
stimulate growth and loyalty.
Driving growth through attractive commercial propositions
A typical approach in a market is to rebase certain fares products to ensure
competitiveness and value for money, which encourages volume growth and
maintains revenue levels in the early stages. This acts as a platform from
which to build further volume and pricing growth in future years. Following our
success in the first half of the year principally in markets in the North
region, the full year passenger volume growth across the division of 2.6% is
the first full year of commercial passenger volume growth for a decade.
Tailored fares reductions in Manchester have persuaded an extra 150,000 people
per week to travel with First and contributed to an improvement of more than
30% in customer perceptions of our value for money. In the second half of the
year we expanded our fares reviews to other markets including Leeds,
Portsmouth, Southampton and Bristol, where we worked with the elected Mayor of
Bristol to undertake a wide ranging consultation that we used to inform our new
fares structure introduced in November.
In many areas we coupled changes to the fares structure with improved network
designs, allowing us to maximise growth opportunities and increase market
share. We have completed ten major redesigns so far, including our SimpliCITY
network in Glasgow which has restored frequencies of ten minutes or better to
core services and coordinated these routes to create simpler links to the city
centre. Against the backdrop of an economy that struggled in 2013/14,
SimpliCITY outperformed the rest of the network, delivering a growth rate 1.0%
higher.
Effective partnerships, which foster better and stronger coordination with
local authorities and other stakeholders, are hugely important for us in terms
of our customer proposition. We are a key partner in two new Better Bus Areas
announced in 2013, York and the West of England Partnership, receiving enhanced
funding from the DfT. Working closely with our partners, we seek to align
agendas and through this deliver greater passenger growth to the networks. Of
the five areas across the country that have now secured this funding, we have
been at the forefront of three, reflecting how important we consider fostering
powerful partnerships are to the future success of local bus services.
We are working hard with local authorities to ensure they make best use of
their limited funds particularly for tendered services. In Cornwall, we have
worked with the council to ensure that the network maximises the coordination
between commercial and tendered services. In West Yorkshire we, along with
other local operators, have developed a compelling proposition to enable buses
to support the growth of the local economy, which will now be considered by the
newly formed Combined Authority. In Portsmouth we have worked closely with the
City Council to introduce bus priority measures including bus lanes and a park
and ride system.
Continuous improvement in operating and financial performance
We have continued to focus on cost optimisation and disciplined operations
during the year. Adoption of best practice operating procedures and standards
have led to cost efficiencies including a 27% reduction in breakdowns and lost
mileage reducing by 21%. This focus on disciplined operations has also
delivered an increase in punctuality and reliability standards.
With the optimisation of our depot operations making good progress, we have
intensified our focus on leadership development. Our programmes aim to give our
management teams the support to develop local initiatives, seek development
opportunities and stimulate commercial initiatives. During the year, the
division restructured its senior leadership team to refresh talent and ensure
that the necessary commercial and operational expertise is in place to support
our local operations.
Prudent investment in our key assets
In January we announced our biggest ever investment in vehicles outside London
and we plan to introduce 425 vehicles during the 2014/15 financial year at a
cost of £70m, taking our total investment in new vehicles to £310m invested in
2,000 new vehicles over four years. Almost all of these buses will be
manufactured in the UK, with 274 Wrightbus StreetLite Micro Hybrid buses
forming the bulk of the latest order. These diesel-based vehicles incorporate
an innovative onboard hybrid system which improves fuel efficiency by around
10%, and we will be the first company to operate these new buses. Capital
investment into our fleet will continue in the coming years, further reducing
our average fleet age and improving customer experience.
In both Aberdeen and Worcester we launched mobile ticketing during the year and
through 2014 all of our networks will be equipped with this technology. We are
also introducing smartcard schemes, with multi-operator capability where
appropriate, allowing us to offer a more sophisticated pricing model and give
us more information about who are customers are and how they use our services.
This will give us a strong platform from which to launch customised loyalty
initiatives based on a detailed understanding our customers' needs.
Responsible partnerships with our customers and communities
Our efforts to improve the quality of our fleet and the reliability of our
services was recognised in the recent independent Passenger Focus Autumn 2013
survey of customer satisfaction. The results showed a 5% rise in overall
passenger satisfaction across our services to 86%, including an increase in
score in 34 of the 35 variables measured. We were particularly pleased that our
Glasgow network achieved an overall satisfaction score of 91% following the
launch of the SimpliCITY network this year.
Our close partnership working also extends to ensuring our services are
accessible for all. For example, in Glasgow we are offering job seekers
significant discounts on single fares, our child fare of 60p in the same city
is one of the cheapest in the UK, while in Bristol we offer a 30% discount to
all young people under 21. We became the first national bus operator to pledge
our support for a charter, developed by the Royal National Institute of Blind
People, to ensure services are accessible for customers with sight loss. Our
ongoing partnership with Disability Rights UK, and other disability
organisations, is helping our drivers meet the needs of those living with
disability and health conditions. We also support Greener Journeys' annual
Catch the Bus Week initiative, which promotes the benefits of bus travel
including environmental considerations and the importance of bus services to
local economies.
We were pleased to be awarded the contract to offer bus services for the 2014
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which follows two years of planning. Our
SimpliCITY network across the city will be supplemented by new services and
shuttles linking principal Games venues with the city centre. We will also be
providing bus and coach services for all client groups during the Games
including the athletes, technical officials, media and sponsors.
Future priorities
In the 2013/14 year we saw each component of our transformation plans coming
together to enable the full potential in each market to begin to be realised.
Each of our core initiatives are being rolled out across our bus businesses in
a tailored local way. Our customers are beginning to recognise and welcome the
improvements we are making to services across our operations, and we are seeing
positive signs of passenger satisfaction scores improving and passenger volumes
increasing. In combination, our strategies are building a more resilient
business and we continue to move towards achieving double digit margins over
the life of the plan.
Outlook
In 2014/15 we will continue to work through our network and fares optimisation
programmes, and will be embedding the benefits of changes already made as some
of the early schemes reach their first anniversary during the first half of the
financial year. During 2014/15 the introduction of smart and mobile ticketing,
together with enhancements to customer information channels, are designed to
spur further volume growth. Although the local economies in some of our markets
continue to be challenging, and local authority concessionary fare budgets
remain under pressure, we have confidence that we will harness our compelling
market positions to deliver sustained volume and revenue growth underpinned by
tight cost disciplines over the coming years.
UK Rail
Our UK Rail division saw like-for-like passenger growth of 5.9% during the year
(2013: 7.4%) as the strong demand that has been seen across the industry since
privatisation continued into 2013/14. Revenue during the year was £2,870.1m
(2013: £2,795.1m), with the increase principally due to the strong passenger
volume growth across all of our train operating companies. Adjusted operating
profit was £55.2m (2013: £19.3m), representing a margin of 1.9% (2013: 0.7%),
in part reflecting First Great Western moving from a loss-making position to
normal commercial terms under the direct award agreed in October 2013 and the
successful delivery of a number of important fleet and infrastructure projects
in conjunction with industry partners.
Focused and disciplined bidding
This year the DfT and Transport Scotland have made significant progress in the
third generation of their rail re-franchising programmes, which will see £8bn
p.a. of long term contract-backed passenger revenue available through 19 major
franchise opportunities in the coming years. We are shortlisted for the
ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper, Essex Thameside, InterCity East Coast, and
Thameslink Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchises, the only owning group
to do so. We have submitted compelling bids for the first four of these which
demonstrate value for money for passengers, the taxpayer and our shareholders,
and expect to submit a competitive bid for the InterCity East Coast competition
in the summer. We are also investigating contract opportunities from other
franchising authorities, and during the year we were pleased to be shortlisted
for the tender to operate the Luas light rail system in Dublin by the Railway
Procurement Agency of the Republic of Ireland. The contract award decision is
expected in the third quarter of 2014.
Following the review of the re-franchising programme completed in 2012/13, the
DfT announced a new timetable in March 2013 which was subsequently updated in
April 2014. As part of this new timetable, we agreed shorter direct awards with
the DfT to run our First Capital Connect franchise for an additional six months
until September 2014 and our First Great Western franchise for an additional
two years until September 2015, securing continuity of rail services for
passengers and retaining our experience in managing the impact of the
multi-billion pound investment programme already underway on these networks. We
are progressing negotiations with the DfT to continue operating our First
TransPennine Express franchise until February 2016, and working with the
Department to explore whether a longer direct award with First Great Western
may offer better value for money and better services for passengers during the
significant programme of works to improve services on the Greater Western
network.
Continuous improvement in operating and financial performance
Our UK Rail teams have a depth of expertise and a record of delivery. Our
operating companies have outperformed the industry in delivering punctuality
and customer satisfaction improvements since 2006, despite infrastructure
challenges. We continue to work closely with Network Rail where we can in order
to both help them reduce infrastructure issues, which in some of our operating
areas accounts for two thirds of delays, and also to ensure upgrades are
delivered in an efficient manner which causes the least possible disruption to
our passengers. By far the most visible impact of infrastructure failures were
the various incidents associated with the severe winter weather in December
2013 and February 2014, which led to significant and high profile damage to the
Great Western Mainline at Dawlish, Bridgwater and Maidenhead. We worked closely
with Network Rail as they undertook repairs to the line at Dawlish, during
which time trains were unable to travel between Exeter and Plymouth. We
introduced a revised timetable and our rail replacement bus teams were able to
provide comprehensive support including a direct coach link between Exeter and
key Cornish towns and cities. The line reopened on 4 April 2014.
Amongst the infrastructure upgrades we are currently involved in are the £7.5bn
Great Western Mainline upgrade in preparation for the introduction of the
InterCity Express Programme, Crossrail and a new fleet of local electric
trains. This upgrade includes the £850m Reading station remodelling project,
which is due to finish a year ahead of schedule thanks in part to excellent
working relationships with our industry partners. Following our success at
securing additional services in Wiltshire in partnership with the DfT and local
authorities, we began a consultation on improving the timetable between London
and the South West for introduction later in the year.
First Capital Connect were involved in the unveiling of brand new Class 700
trains which will be introduced from 2016 and the beginning of significant work
to improve the busy London Bridge station, as part of the £6bn Thameslink
Programme which will double capacity on the key cross-London route.
We are also a key partner within the industry to deliver rolling stock and
capacity upgrades with four successful fleet introductions in recent years. We
are currently involved in programmes to deliver a further 1,500 new vehicles.
The previously announced investment in 40 new carriages for First TransPennine
Express saw the first new longer electric trains run on the Manchester-Scotland
route in December, as part of the Government's Northern Hub electrification
project. By May 2014 all of the new vehicles will be in service permitting an
improved timetable and in turn freeing up carriages to increase capacity on the
popular Manchester-Leeds route.
Prudent investment in our key assets
First Capital Connect's fleet of Class 365 trains is being transformed with
fresh interiors and enhanced accessibility features as part of a £31m
investment by Eversholt Rail, whilst we are deep cleaning 221 carriages to a
high standard. More than 20 First ScotRail trains have been upgraded with new
fittings and lighting by Eversholt, with another 21 vehicles set to be
refurbished and repainted by 2016.
The customer app for our operating companies has been downloaded more than one
million times, providing journey planning and mobile retailing capabilities.
Our First ScotRail smart ticketing trial is proving successful, and we are
using the outputs to determine how best to introduce smart ticketing across our
other franchises.
Between First ScotRail and First Great Western we are leading the largest roll
out of free WiFi on the UK rail network. Our Class 180 trains at both First
Great Western and First Hull Trains are already WiFi equipped. First ScotRail
launched a new responsive website in mid-March and more people are visiting the
website using smartphones than computers for the first time ever.
Responsible partnerships with our customers and communities
The latest twice-yearly Passenger Focus survey was completed during the autumn.
Amongst the results were some notable improvements for our train operating
companies - as scores for our stations have increased across the board, our
employees at First ScotRail and First TransPennine Express saw increased
satisfaction scores, and specific initiatives such as our refreshed train
interiors at First Capital Connect saw improved results. We have studied all of
these findings and are acting on what our customers tell us is important.
First ScotRail is the Official Supporter - Passenger Rail Services for the 2014
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and is planning the most extensive train
timetable that Scotland has ever seen in support of the event. Extra carriages
and more frequent services will be provided until late at night to help
journeys run as smoothly as possible for spectators as well as regular
customers. We have been preparing the timetable with Glasgow 2014 and industry
partners for more than two years - with more than a million extra journeys
expected on our trains during the 11 days of sport.
First ScotRail secured the UK's most recognised people award during the year
for its sustained investment in staff training, being accredited with Investors
in People (IIP) Gold status. First ScotRail is now the largest IIP
Gold-accredited company in the UK, measured by the number of people employed.
We became the first UK rail operator to partner with a national loyalty points
scheme during the year as we joined Nectar, the country's largest such
programme. This allows us to reward our customers by giving them additional
incentives when booking online.
During the year we were recognised for our successes, with First ScotRail
winning the national Rail Business of the Year Award and First TransPennine
Express awarded European InterCity Operator of the Year at the European Rail
Congress.
Future priorities
We have been running rail services in the UK since 1997 and currently operate
around a quarter of the rail market, with the delivery of rail services aligned
with our customers' needs at the heart of our offer. We are the only UK rail
owning group whose services include long distance, regional, commuter and
sleeper operations. Our well regarded management team has strong commercial,
rolling stock and major infrastructure project upgrade expertise and we have a
highly experienced bidding team which aims to replenish our franchise portfolio
to deliver profit on a par with the last round of franchising, with an
acceptable level of risk.
Outlook
Rail passenger volumes across the industry continue to see strong growth, with
passenger numbers more than doubling since 1996. We have seen consistent strong
performance and have a highly successful record of delivery, outperforming the
industry in achieving punctuality and customer satisfaction improvements. We
remain committed to maintaining a leading position in this market and have a
clear focus on meeting the needs of passengers, taxpayers and delivering an
economic return for shareholders.
Group outlook
We have made satisfactory progress on our key priorities in the year,
delivering earnings growth despite the historically severe weather in North
America. We saw good performances in four of our divisions partially offset by
slower progress in First Student, where driving forward our detailed recovery
plan is a key priority. Although part way through the current bid season, our
programme to address contract portfolio pricing has made encouraging progress,
though we recognise that we still have some way to go.
The Group is broadly on track to achieve our medium term targets and, while we
are encouraged by progress so far, there remains a significant amount of work
ahead. We are confident that we have the right plans underway to build on our
market leading positions, strengthen the resilience of the Group, and return to
a profile of sustainable cash generation and value creation for the long term.
Exceptional items and amortisation charges
Restated1
Year to Year to
31 March 31 March
2014 2013
£m £m
Disposals
UK Bus depot sales and closures 13.0 (19.8)
First Transit FSS disposal and exit from Diego Garcia - (12.6)
operations
13.0 (32.4)
Onerous contracts/impairments
UK Rail First Great Western contract provision 4.6 (15.9)
UK Rail joint venture provision (DSBFirst) - (5.0)
First Student onerous contract - (2.7)
4.6 (23.6)
Legal claims
First Student legal claims - (19.8)
First Transit legal settlements - (5.9)
First Transit Diego Garcia insurance claim - 6.7
- (19.0)
Other
UK Rail bid cost recoveries - 12.7
- 12.7
Exceptional itemscharged to operating profit 17.6 (62.3)
Amortisation charges (53.4) (52.0)
Operating profit charge (35.8) (114.3)
Ineffectiveness on financial derivatives charged to (17.6) (5.5)
finance costs
Net charge before tax credit (53.4) (119.8)
Tax credit 28.1 41.4
Net charge (25.3) (78.4)
1 Restated as set out in note 2.
UK Bus depot sales and closures
UK Bus depot sales and closures relate to measures taken by the Group to
rebalance its portfolio in the UK Bus operations, which included selling or
closing certain operations. The principal amount represents a £16.5m gain on
the disposal of the eight London bus depots, which completed during the year
offset by £3.5m of losses on depots sold or closed.
UK Rail First Great Western contract provision
The total loss in the final seven periods of the franchise was not as high as
initially projected partly due to contractual changes agreed with the DfT. As a
result £4.6m has been released as an exceptional credit.
UK Rail bid cost recoveries
The group received £12.7m of bid cost recoveries during the year to 31 March
2013 representing cost reimbursement from the DfT following the cancellation of
the InterCity West Coast Franchise process.
Amortisation charges
The charge for the year was £53.4m (2013: £52.0m) with the increase mainly due
to the amortisation of the First Great Western contract intangible recognised
as a result of the contract extension, partly offset by the impact of foreign
exchange movements.
Ineffectiveness on financial derivatives
Due to the ineffective element and undesignated fair value movements on
financial derivatives there was a £17.6m non-cash charge (2013: £5.5m) to the
income statement during the year. The principal component of this non-cash
charge relates to certain US Dollar interest rate swaps, which are no longer
required as the underlying US Dollar debt was repaid from the proceeds of the
rights issue.
Tax
The tax credit as a result of these amortisation charges and exceptional items
was £24.9m (2013: £39.4m). In addition there was a one-off deferred tax credit
of £3.2m (2013: £2.0m) as a result of the reduction in the UK corporation tax
rate from 23% to 20% (2013: 24% to 23%).
Finance costs and investment income
Adjusted net finance costs were £156.1m (2013: £163.2m) with the reduction
principally reflecting the lower level of debt as a result of repayments
following the rights issue, partly offset by the additional £8.7m of interest
on pensions due to the impact of IAS 19 (revised).
Profit before tax
Adjusted profit before tax was £111.9m (2013: £90.9m) with the increase due
principally to higher adjusted operating profit and lower net finance costs. An
overall charge of £53.4m (2013: £119.8m) for exceptional items and amortisation
charges resulted in statutory profit before tax of £58.5m (2013: loss of £
28.9m).
Tax
The tax charge, on adjusted profit before tax, for the period was £22.4m (2013:
£17.5m) representing an effective rate of 20.0% (2013: 19.3%). There was a tax
credit of £24.9m (2013: credit of £39.4m) relating to amortisation charges and
exceptional items. There was also a one-off credit adjustment of £3.2m (2013: £
2.0m) to the UK deferred tax liability as a result of the reduction in the UK
corporation tax rate from 23% to 20% (2013: 24% to 23%), which will apply from
April 2016. This resulted in a total tax credit of £5.7m (2013: £23.9m) on
continuing operations. The actual tax paid during the period was £8.2m (2013: £
6.3m). North American cash tax remains low due to tax losses brought forward
and tax depreciation in excess of book depreciation. We expect the North
American cash tax rate to remain low for the near term.
EPS
The adjusted basic EPS was 7.5p (2013: 11.0p). Basic EPS was 5.1p (2013: (3.0)
p), with the improvement primarily due to higher operating profit, lower net
finance costs and lower net exceptional items compared to last year.
EBITDA
EBITDA by division is set out below:
Restated
Year to 31 March 2014 Year to 31 March 2013
Revenue EBITDA1 EBITDA Revenue EBITDA1 EBITDA
margin1 margin1
£m £m £m £m
% %
First Student 1,467.4 241.1 16.4% 1,503.1 259.0 17.2%
First Transit 811.9 72.0 8.9% 814.6 60.0 7.4%
Greyhound 624.6 74.9 12.0% 647.1 83.2 12.9%
UK Bus 930.2 105.9 11.4% 1,128.2 120.4 10.7%
UK Rail 2,870.1 117.1 4.1% 2,795.1 91.7 3.3%
Group 13.2 (31.2) 12.8 (28.6)
Total Group 6,717.4 579.8 8.6% 6,900.9 585.7 8.5%
North America in $m $m % $m $m %
US Dollars
First Student 2,339.3 387.2 16.6% 2,378.6 410.2 17.2%
First Transit 1,290.5 114.4 8.9% 1,286.8 94.8 7.4%
Greyhound 990.6 118.4 12.0% 1,022.0 131.2 12.8%
Total North 4,620.4 620.0 13.4% 4,687.4 636.2 13.6%
America
1Adjusted operating profit less capital grant amortisation plus depreciation.
Cash flow
The net cash inflow for the year was £26.9m (2013: outflow £74.4m). The cash
inflow combined with the £584.4m net proceeds from the rights issue and the
movements in debt due to foreign exchange contributed to a net debt decrease of
£675.3m (2013: increase £141.6m) as detailed below:
Restated
Year to Year to
31 March 31 March
2014 2013
£m £m
EBITDA 579.8 585.7
Cash exceptional items - (0.6)
Other non-cash income statement charges 7.8 9.6
Working capital excluding FGW provision movement (37.0) (52.5)
Working capital - FGW provision movement (current (35.3) (17.0)
liabilities)
Movement in other provisions (36.1) (12.2)
Pension payments in excess of income statement charge (27.7) (34.1)
Cash generated by operations 451.5 478.9
Capital expenditure (334.5) (338.1)
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment 14.1 14.7
Interest and tax (157.2) (144.4)
Dividends payable to Group shareholders - (114.0)
Dividends payable to non-controlling minority (21.3) (10.7)
shareholders
Proceeds from sale of businesses 76.3 39.2
Other (2.0) -
Net cash inflow/(outflow) 26.9 (74.4)
Net proceeds from rights issue 584.4 -
Foreign exchange movements 68.2 (63.1)
Other non-cash movements in relation to financial (4.2) (4.1)
instruments
Movement in net debt in the year 675.3 (141.6)
The net cash inflow compared to the outflow last year was primarily due to:
* No equity dividend payments (2013: £114.0m).
* Proceeds from sale of businesses were £37.1m higher, reflecting the London
depots disposal completion in the year.
* Working capital excluding FGW provision movement was £15.5m favourable to
the prior year principally due to the timing of certain receipts in UK
Rail.
Partly offset by:
* Higher planned FGW provision utilisation of £18.3m during the year.
* Higher interest and tax payments of £12.8m primarily due to the timing of
interest payments on the bonds, offset by a lower bank interest charge as a
result of the rights issue.
* Higher movement in other provisions of £23.9m due to the benefit last year
of First Student and First Transit legal claims provided for but not paid
in the year.
* Higher dividends payable to non-controlling minority shareholders of £
10.6m.
* EBITDA of £579.8m was £5.9m lower than last year.
Capital expenditure
Cash capital expenditure was £334.5m (2013: £338.1m) and comprised First
Student £130.8m (2013: £127.7m), First Transit £18.1m (2013: £18.0m), Greyhound
£45.8m (2013: £51.3m), UK Bus £67.4m (2013: £72.4m), UK Rail £68.5m (2013: £
66.1m) and Group items £3.9m (2013: £2.6m).
In addition during the year we entered into operating leases for passenger
carrying vehicles in First Student with capital values of £25.2m (2013: £nil),
First Transit with capital values of £19.5m (2013: £12.5m), Greyhound with
capital values £14.7m (2013: £nil) and UK Bus with capital values of £24.3m
(2013: £21.6m).
Gross capital investment was £464.7m (2013: £404.3m) and comprised First
Student £194.3m (2013: £150.8m), First Transit £37.2m (2013: £30.5m), Greyhound
£60.5m (2013: £51.3m), UK Bus £101.7m (2013: £103.0m), UK Rail £69.4m (2013: £
63.9m) and Group items £1.6m (2013: £4.8m).
Funding and risk management
Liquidity within the Group has remained strong. At the 31 March there was £
988.5m (2013: £1,215.5m) of committed headroom and free cash, being £796.2m
(2013: £821.6m) of committed headroom and £192.3m (2013: £393.9m) of free cash.
Largely due to seasonality in the North American school bus business, committed
headroom typically reduces during the financial year up to October and
increases thereafter. Treasury policy requires a minimum of £250m of committed
headroom at all times.
During the year the 2013 £300m bond was repaid in full as planned. As at 31
March 2014 the Group's average debt maturity was 6.1 years (2013: 5.4 years).
In May 2014, we signed a 5 year, £800m revolving credit facility with our
relationship banks. The Group does not enter into speculative financial
transactions and uses only authorised financial instruments for certain risk
management purposes.
Interest rate risk
The Group reduces exposure by using a combination of fixed rate debt and
interest rate derivatives to achieve an overall fixed rate position over the
medium term of more than 75% of net debt.
Fuel price risk
The Group uses a progressive forward hedging programme to manage commodity
risk. In 2013/14 in the UK, 93% of the `at risk' crude requirements (2.2m
barrels p.a.) were hedged at an average rate of $105 per barrel. At the end of
the period we have hedged 92% of our `at risk' UK crude requirements for the
year to 31 March 2015 at $101 per barrel and 58% of our requirements for the
year to 31 March 2016 at $98 per barrel.
In North America 69% of 2013/14 `at risk' crude oil volumes (1.6m barrels p.a.)
were hedged at an average rate of $93 per barrel. At the end of the period we
have hedged 55% of the volumes for the year to 31 March 2015 at $90 per barrel
and 39% of our volumes for the year to 31 March 2016 at $87 per barrel.
Foreign currency risk
Group policies on foreign currency risk affecting cash flow, profits and net
assets are maintained to minimise exposures to the Group by using a combination
of natural hedge positions and derivative instruments where appropriate.
Translation risk relating to US Dollar earnings arising in the US is largely
offset by US Dollar denominated costs incurred in the UK, principally UK fuel
costs, US Dollar interest and tax costs so that exposure to EPS on a year to
year basis is not significant.
Net debt
The Group's net debt at 31 March 2014 was £1,303.8m (2013: £1,979.1m) and
comprised:
Year to Year to
31 March 31 March
2014 2013
Fixed Variable Total Total
£m £m £m £m
Sterling bond (2013)1 - - - 299.4
Sterling bond (2018)1 297.5 - 297.5 343.0
Sterling bond (2019)1 - 249.5 249.5 249.6
Sterling bond (2021)1 347.5 - 347.5 339.0
Sterling bond (2022)1 319.5 - 319.5 319.1
Sterling bond (2024)1 199.5 - 199.5 199.5
US Dollar bank loans - - - 358.1
Canadian Dollar bank loans - - - 15.5
Euro and other bank loans - - - 11.8
HP contracts and finance leases 311.1 33.5 344.6 418.2
Senior unsecured loan notes 89.9 - 89.9 98.3
Loan notes 8.7 1.0 9.7 9.7
Gross debt excluding accrued interest 1,573.7 284.0 1,857.7 2,661.2
Cash (192.3) (393.9)
UK Rail ring-fenced cash and deposits (360.9) (273.8)
Other ring-fenced cash and deposits (0.7) (14.4)
Net debt excluding accrued interest 1,303.8 1,979.1
1Excludes accrued interest.
Under the terms of the UK Rail franchise agreements, cash can only be
distributed by the TOCs either up to the lower amount of their retained profits
or the amount determined by prescribed liquidity ratios. The ring-fenced cash
represents that which is not available for distribution or the amount required
to satisfy the liquidity ratio at the balance sheet date.
Shares in issue
As at 31 March 2014 there were 1,204.2m shares in issue (2013: 481.8m),
excluding treasury shares and own shares held in trust for employees of 0.7m
(2013: 0.3m). The weighted average number of shares in issue for the purpose of
basic EPS calculations (excluding treasury shares and own shares held in trust
for employees) was 1,059.3m (2013: 590.8m).
Balance sheet
Net assets have increased by £408.5m since the start of the period. The
principal reasons for this are the net proceeds from the rights issue of £
584.4m, the retained profit for the year of £64.2m, favourable hedging reserve
movements of £40.4m partly offset by unfavourable translation reserve movements
of £231.1m and actuarial losses on defined benefit pension schemes (net of
deferred tax) of £30.5m.
Goodwill
The carrying value (net assets including goodwill but excluding intercompany
balances) of each cash generating unit (CGU) was tested for impairment during
the year and there continues to be sufficient headroom in all of the CGUs.
Foreign exchange
The most significant exchange rates to Sterling for the Group are as follows:
Year to 31 March Year to March 2013
2014
Closing Effective Closing Effective
rate rate rate rate
US Dollar 1.66 1.61 1.52 1.58
Canadian Dollar 1.84 1.69 1.55 1.59
Pensions
Comparative figures for the year to 31 March 2013 have been restated for IAS 19
(revised) as explained in note 2.
The Group has updated its pension assumptions as at 31 March 2014 for the
defined benefit schemes in the UK and North America. The net pension deficit of
£247.8m at the beginning of the year has increased to £260.9m at the end of the
year, principally due to a lower net discount rate in the UK.
The main factors that influence the balance sheet position for pensions and the
sensitivities to their movement at 31 March 2014 are set out below:
Movement Impact
Discount rate +0.1% Reduce deficit by £29m
Inflation +0.1% Increase deficit by £21m
Seasonality
The First Student business generates lower revenues and profits in the first
half of the year than in the second half of the year as the school summer
holidays fall into the first half. Greyhound operating profits are typically
higher in the first half of the year due to demand being stronger in the summer
months.
Going concern
The Group has established a strong balanced portfolio of businesses with
approximately 50% of Group revenues secured under medium term contracts with
government agencies and other large organisations in the UK and North America.
The Group has a diversified funding structure with average debt duration at 31
March 2014 of 6.1 years (2013: 5.4 years) and which is largely represented by a
medium term to committed long term unsecured bond debt and finance leases. As
at 31 March 2014 the Group had a $1,250m committed revolving banking facility
of which $1,200m (2013: $1,113m) was undrawn at the year end. This facility was
refinanced in May 2014 and now has a maturity of June 2019.
The Directors have carried out a detailed review of the Group's budget for the
year to 31 March 2015 and medium term plans, with due regard for the risks and
uncertainties to which the Group is exposed, the uncertain economic climate and
the impact that this could have on trading performance. Based on this review,
the Directors believe that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the
financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis.
Tim O'Toole Chris Surch
Chief Executive Group Finance Director
21 May 2014 21 May 2014
Consolidated income statement
For the year ended 31 March
Restated
2014 2013 1
Adjusted Adjusted
results2 Adjustments3 Total results2 Adjustments3 Total
Notes £m £m £m £m £m £m
Revenue 6,717.4 - 6,717.4 6,900.9 6,900.9
-
Operating costs (6,449.4) (35.8) (6,485.2) (6,646.8) (114.3)
(6,761.1)
Operating profit 268.0 (35.8) 232.2 254.1 (114.3) 139.8
Amortisation charges (53.4) (53.4) (52.0) (52.0)
- -
Exceptional items 17.6 17.6 (62.3) (62.3)
- -
(35.8) (35.8) (114.3) (114.3)
- -
Investment income 1.7 - 1.7 1.8 1.8
-
Finance costs (157.8) (17.6) (175.4) (165.0) (5.5) (170.5)
Profit/(loss) before tax 111.9 (53.4) 58.5 90.9 (119.8) (28.9)
Tax (22.4) 28.1 5.7 (17.5) 41.4 23.9
Profit/(loss) for the year 89.5 (25.3) 64.2 73.4 (78.4) (5.0)
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the 79.3 (25.1) 54.2 65.1 (82.9) (17.8)
parent
Non-controlling interests 10.2 (0.2) 10.0 8.3 4.5 12.8
89.5 (25.3) 64.2 73.4 (78.4) (5.0)
Earnings per share
Basic 4 7.5p (2.4)p 5.1p 11.0p (14.0)p (3.0)p
Diluted 4 7.5p (2.4)p 5.1p 10.9p (13.9)p (3.0)p
Dividends of £nil (2013: £114.0m) were paid during the year. Dividends of £nil
(2013: £nil) are proposed for approval in respect of the year.
1Restated for adoption of IAS19 (revised) on pensions, the reclassification of
certain exceptional items and the impact of the rights issue on EPS as
explained in note 2.
2Adjusted trading results before items noted in 3 below.
3Amortisation charges, ineffectiveness on financial derivatives, exceptional
items and tax thereon.
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
Year ended 31 March Restated
2014 2013
£m £m
Profit/(loss) for the year 64.2 (5.0)
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to
profit or loss
Actuarial (losses)/gains on defined benefit pension (33.5) 7.5
schemes
Deferred tax on actuarial losses/gains on defined 3.0 0.2
benefit pension schemes
(30.5) 7.7
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to
profit or loss
Derivative hedging instrument movements 44.3 (52.7)
Deferred tax on derivative hedging instrument (3.9) 7.6
movements
Exchange differences on translation of foreign (231.1) 103.2
operations
(190.7) 58.1
Other comprehensive (expense)/income for the year (221.2) 65.8
Total comprehensive (expense)/income for the year (157.0) 60.8
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent (167.0) 48.0
Non-controlling interests 10.0 12.8
(157.0) 60.8
Consolidated balance sheet
Year ended 31 March Restated1 Restated1
2014 2013 2012
Notes £m £m £m
Non-current
assets
Goodwill 5 1,509.5 1,665.8 1,599.3
Other intangible 6 217.9 281.8 318.8
assets
Property, plant 7 1,864.9 1,977.6 2,006.3
and equipment
Deferred tax 15 35.8 53.2 43.3
assets
Retirement 29.9 15.4 25.2
benefit assets
Derivative 14 25.9 63.3 72.6
financial
instruments
Investments 2.8 3.2 7.2
3,686.7 4,060.3 4,072.7
Current assets
Inventories 8 71.4 79.9 91.0
Trade and other 9 663.6 641.0 601.9
receivables
Cash and cash 553.9 682.1 499.7
equivalents
Assets held for 6.2 44.7 3.7
sale
Derivative 14 26.0 23.3 43.5
financial
instruments
1,321.1 1,471.0 1,239.8
Total assets 5,007.8 5,531.3 5,312.5
Current
liabilities
Trade and other 10 1,219.8 1,256.7 1,271.5
payables
Tax liabilities 34.2 28.7 21.8
Financial 11 127.8 441.3 195.3
liabilities
Derivative 14 17.7 64.7 17.1
financial
instruments
1,399.5 1,791.4 1,505.7
Net current 78.4 320.4 265.9
liabilities
Non-current
liabilities
Financial 11 1,823.9 2,317.4 2,252.9
liabilities
Derivative 14 9.2 21.7 50.1
financial
instruments
Retirement 290.6 263.2 293.1
benefit
liabilities
Deferred tax 15 37.0 62.2 95.6
liabilities
Provisions 16 224.6 260.9 242.5
2,385.3 2,925.4 2,934.2
Total liabilities 3,784.8 4,716.8 4,439.9
Net assets 1,223.0 814.5 872.6
Equity
Share capital 17 60.2 24.1 24.1
Share premium 676.4 676.4 676.4
Hedging reserve 7.8 (32.6) 12.5
Other reserves 4.6 4.6 4.6
Own shares (1.8) (1.1) (1.1)
Translation 17.8 248.9 145.7
reserve
Retained earnings 446.4 (130.5) (12.0)
Equity 1,211.4 789.8 850.2
attributable to
equity holders of
the parent
Non-controlling 11.6 24.7 22.4
interests
Total equity 1,223.0 814.5 872.6
1 Restated as set out in note 2.
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
Share Share Hedging Other Own Translation Retained Total Non-controlling Total
capital premium reserve reserves shares reserve earnings interests equity
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
Balance at 1 24.1 676.4 12.5 4.6 (1.1) 145.7 (3.6) 858.6 22.4
April 2012 as 881.0
previously
reported
Prior year - - - - - - (8.4) (8.4) - (8.4)
adjustment
Balance at 1 24.1 676.4 12.5 4.6 (1.1) 145.7 (12.0) 850.2 22.4
April 2012 872.6
restated
Total - - 103.2 (10.1) 48.0 12.8 60.8
comprehensive
income for - - (45.1)
the year
Dividends - - - (114.0) (114.0) (10.5) (124.5)
paid - - -
Share-based - - - 5.6 5.6 - 5.6
payments - - -
Balance at 31 24.1 676.4 (32.6) 4.6 (1.1) 248.9 (130.5) 789.8 24.7
March 2013 814.5
Rights issue1 36.1 - - - - - 548.3 584.4 - 584.4
Total - - 40.4 - - (231.1) 23.7 (167.0) 10.0 (157.0)
comprehensive
income for
the year
Movement in - - - - (0.7) - 0.3 (0.4) - (0.4)
EBT and
treasury
shares
Dividends - - - - - - - - (23.1) (23.1)
paid
Share-based - - - 4.6 4.6 - 4.6
payments - - -
Balance at 31 60.2 676.4 7.8 4.6 (1.8) 17.8 446.4 1,211.4 11.6 1,223.0
March 2014
1 The rights issue which completed in June 2013 was effected through a legal
structure that resulted in the excess of the proceeds over the nominal value of
the share capital being recognised within retained earnings as a distributable
reserve.
Consolidated cash flow statement
Year ended 31 March
2014 2013
Note £m £m
Net cash from operating activities 18 292.3 332.7
Investing activities
Interest received 2.0 1.8
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant 14.1 14.7
and equipment
Purchases of property, plant and equipment (277.0) (213.1)
Disposal of subsidiary/business 76.3 39.2
Net cash used in investing activities (184.6) (157.4)
Financing activities
Dividends paid - (114.0)
Dividends paid to non-controlling (21.3) (10.7)
shareholders
Shares purchased by Employee Benefit Trust (2.0) -
Proceeds from rights issue 614.4 -
Fees paid on rights issue (30.0) -
Proceeds from bond issues - 325.0
Repayment of bonds (300.0)
-
Drawdowns from bank facilities 20.1 63.3
Repayment of bank debt (416.9) (197.8)
Repayments under HP contracts and finance (101.8) (55.8)
leases
Fees for bank facility amendments and bond - (6.2)
issues
Net cash flow from financing activities (237.5) 3.8
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash (129.8) 179.1
equivalents before foreign exchange
movements
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of 682.1 499.7
year
Foreign exchange movements 1.6 3.3
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year per 553.9 682.1
consolidated balance sheet
Cash and cash equivalents are included within current assets on the
consolidated balance sheet.
Note to the consolidated cash flow statement -
reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net debt
2014 2013
£m £m
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents (129.8) 179.1
in year
Decrease/(increase) in debt and finance leases 798.6
(134.7)
Inception of new HP contracts and finance leases (57.5) (125.0)
Fees capitalised against bank facilities and bond -
issues 6.2
Net cash flow 611.3 (74.4)
Foreign exchange movements 68.2
(63.1)
Other non-cash movements in relation to financial (4.2) (4.1)
instruments
Movement in net debt in year 675.3 (141.6)
Net debt at beginning of year (1,979.1) (1,837.5)
Net debt at end of year (1,303.8) (1,979.1)
Net debt excludes all accrued interest.
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
1 BASIS OF PREPARATION
The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
Statutory Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014 or 2013, but is derived
from those accounts. Statutory Accounts for 2013 have been delivered to the
Registrar of Companies and those for 2014 will be delivered following the
Company's Annual General Meeting. The auditors have reported on both sets of
account; their reports were unqualified and did not contain statements under
section 498 (2), (3) or (4) of the Companies Act 2006.
Whilst the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has
been computed in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRSs), this announcement does not in itself contain sufficient information to
comply with IFRSs. The financial information has been prepared on the basis of
the accounting policies as set out in the Statutory Accounts for 2013 with the
exception of the adoption of IAS 19 (Revised) as explained in note 2. On
adoption of IAS 19 (revised) the Group now presents interest on pensions in the
finance costs line whereas previously such items were presented in operating
costs. In addition the Group has adopted IFRS 13 - Fair Value Measurement.
Copies of the Statutory Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014 will be
available to all shareholders in June and will also be available thereafter at
the Registered Office of the Company at 395 King Street, Aberdeen, AB24 5RP.
2 Restatement of prior YEAR numbers
The tables below show restated prior year comparative figures for the divisions
and for the Group for the financial year ended 31 March 2013. The restatement
reflects (a) the retrospective adjustment from the adoption of the changes in
IAS 19 `Employee Benefits' (revised), (b) the reclassification of certain
exceptional items and (c) the retrospective adjustment of earnings per share
figures as required by IAS 33 `Earnings Per Share', reflecting the rights issue
completed in June 2013.
(a) IAS 19 (revised)
IAS 19 (revised) applies to financial years beginning 1 January 2013 or later.
The key impact on the Group from the revised standard will be to remove the
separate assumptions for expected return on plan assets and discounting of
scheme liabilities and replace them with one single discount rate for the net
deficit. The actual benefits and the cash contributions for these plans are not
impacted by IAS 19 (revised).
(b) Exceptional items
The directors have decided to reclassify certain generally recurring costs that
were previously treated as exceptional. Principally these relate to costs
incurred relating to bidding for rail franchises and the profit/(loss) on
disposal of properties.
(c) Rights issue
Pursuant to the rights issue, on 10 June 2013, 722,859,586 new ordinary shares
of 5 pence each were issued, with three new ordinary shares issued for every
two existing ordinary shares held. As a result the total issued share capital
increased to 1,204.9m ordinary shares. For the calculation of earnings per
share, the number of shares held prior to 10 June 2013 has been increased by a
factor of 1.227 to reflect the bonus element of the rights issue.
Year to 31 March 2013
Adjusted results1: Reported Impact Exceptional Impact Restated
of items of
IAS 19 rights
issue
£m £m £m £m £m
First Student 109.9 - 0.2 110.1
First Transit 49.1 - - 49.1
Greyhound 52.0 2.5 (0.2) 54.3
UK Bus 90.7 (37.2) (2.7) 50.8
UK Rail 63.2 (25.2) (18.7) 19.3
Group items (29.5) - - (29.5)
Adjusted operating profit 335.4 (59.9) (21.4) 254.1
Net finance costs (163.0) (0.2) - (163.2)
Adjusted profit before tax 172.4 (60.1) (21.4) 90.9
Tax (34.7) 12.1 5.1 (17.5)
Adjusted profit for the year 137.7 (48.0) (16.3) 73.4
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent 129.4 (48.0) (16.3) 65.1
Non-controlling interests 8.3 - - 8.3
137.7 (48.0) (16.3) 73.4
Weighted average number of shares 481.7 - - 109.1 590.8
(million)
Adjusted EPS (p) 26.9p (10.0)p (3.4)p (2.5)p 11.0p
Adjusted profit/(Loss) 129.4 (48.0) (16.3) 65.1
attributable to equity holders of
the parent
Adjustments2:
Amortisation charges (52.0) - - (52.0)
Exceptionals, property disposals (83.2) (6.0) 21.4 (67.8)
Tax thereon 45.3 1.2 (5.1) 41.4
Non-controlling interests (4.5) - - (4.5)
Profit/(loss) for the year 35.0 (52.8) - (17.8)
Basic EPS (p) 7.3p (10.8)p - p 0.5p (3.0)p
1 IAS 19 (revised) increases the accounting losses on the FGW contract. The
incremental loss for the year to 31 March 2013 of £10.5m has been treated as a
prior year adjustment as at 1 April 2012 with utilisation of £10.5m in the year
to 31 March 2013.
2 The incremental loss of £6.0m for the 7 period extension to October 2013 has
been included in the restatement of the exceptional charge for the year to 31
March 2013.
2 RESTATEMENT OF PRIOR YEAR NUMBERS continued
Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income
Year to 31 March 2013
Reported Impact FGW IAS Restated
of 19
IAS 19
£m £m £m £m
Profit/(loss) for the year 47.8 (48.0) (4.8) (5.0)
Items that will not be reclassified
subsequently to profit or loss
Actuarial (losses)/gains on defined (63.1) 60.1 10.5 7.5
benefit pension schemes
Deferred tax on actuarial losses/gains on 14.4 (12.1) (2.1) 0.2
defined benefit pension schemes
(48.7) 48.0 8.4 7.7
Items that may be reclassified
subsequently to profit or loss
Derivative hedging instrument movements (52.7) - - (52.7)
Deferred tax on derivative hedging 7.6 - - 7.6
instrument movements
Exchange differences on translation of 103.2 - - 103.2
foreign operations
58.1 - - 58.1
Other comprehensive income for the year 9.4 48.0 8.4 65.8
Total comprehensive income for the year 57.2 - 3.6 60.8
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent 44.4 - 3.6 48.0
Non-controlling interests 12.8 - - 12.8
57.2 - 3.6 60.8
FGW contract provision
At 31 March 2013
Reported Impact Impact Restated
of IAS of
191 IAS 192
£m £m £m £m
At 1 April 2012 56.9 10.5 - 67.4
Provided in the period 9.9 - 6.0 15.9
Utilised in the period (32.9) (10.5) - (43.4)
At 31 March 2013 33.9 - 6.0 39.9
1 IAS 19 (revised) increases the accounting losses on the FGW contract. The
incremental loss for the year to 31 March 2013 of £10.5m has been treated as a
prior year adjustment as at 1 April 2012 with utilisation of £10.5m in the year
to 31 March 2013 respectively.
2 The incremental loss of £6.0m for the 7 period extension to October 2013 has
been included in the restatement of the exceptional charge for the year to 31
March 2013.
3 BUSINESS SEGMENTS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
For management purposes, the Group is organised into five operating divisions -
First Student, First Transit, Greyhound, UK Bus and UK Rail. These divisions
are managed separately in line with the differing services that they provide
and the geographical markets which they operate in. The principal activities of
these divisions are described in the operating and financial review.
The segment results for the year to 31 March 2014 are as follows:
First First Group
Student Transit Greyhound UK Bus UK Rail items1 Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
Revenue 1,467.4 811.9 624.6 930.2 2,870.1 13.2 6,717.4
EBITDA2 241.1 72.0 74.9 105.9 117.1 (31.2) 579.8
Depreciation (147.6) (11.7) (28.5) (61.5) (94.3) (0.6) (344.2)
Capital grant - - - - 32.4 - 32.4
amortisation
Segment results2 93.5 60.3 46.4 44.4 55.2 (31.8) 268.0
Amortisation charges (41.5) (3.9) (3.0) - (5.0) - (53.4)
Exceptional items - - - 13.0 4.6 - 17.6
Operating profit3 52.0 56.4 43.4 57.4 54.8 (31.8) 232.2
Investment income 1.7
Finance costs (157.8)
Ineffectiveness on (17.6)
financial
derivatives
Profit before tax 58.5
Tax 5.7
Profit after tax 64.2
The restated segment results for the year to 31 March 2013 are as follows:
Restated4
First First Group
Student Transit Greyhound UK Bus UK Rail items1 Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
Revenue 1,503.1 814.6 647.1 1,128.2 2,795.1 12.8 6,900.9
EBITDA2 259.0 60.0 83.2 120.4 91.7 (28.6) 585.7
Depreciation (148.9) (10.9) (28.9) (70.1) (105.0) (0.9) (364.7)
Capital grant - - - 0.5 32.6 - 33.1
amortisation
Segment results2 110.1 49.1 54.3 50.8 19.3 (29.5) 254.1
Amortisation charges (43.1) (3.9) (3.1) (1.9) (52.0)
- -
Exceptional items (22.5) (11.8) (19.8) (8.2) - (62.3)
-
Operating profit3 44.5 33.4` 51.2 31.0 9.2 (29.5) 139.8
Investment income 1.8
Finance costs (165.0)
Ineffectiveness on (5.5)
financial derivatives
Loss before tax (28.9)
Tax 23.9
Loss after tax (5.0)
1Group items comprise Tram operations, central management and other items.
2Adjusted.
3Although the segmental results are used by management to measure performance,
statutory operating profit by operating division is also disclosed for
completeness.
4Restated for adoption of IAS19 (revised) on pensions and the reclassification
of certain exceptional items as explained in note 2.
4 EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS)
EPS is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity shareholders of
£54.2m (2013: loss £17.8m) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares of
1,059.3m (2013: 590.8m). The numbers of ordinary shares used for the basic and
diluted calculations are shown in the table below.
The difference in the number of shares between the basic calculation and the
diluted calculation represents the weighted average number of potentially
dilutive ordinary share options.
Restated
2014 2013
Number Number
m m
Weighted average number of share used in basic 1,059.3 590.8
calculation
SAYE share options - 0.2
Executive share options 3.0 2.9
Weighted average number of shares used in the 1,062.3 593.9
diluted calculation
The Adjusted EPS is intended to highlight the recurring results of the Group
before amortisation charges, ineffectiveness on financial derivatives and
exceptional items. A reconciliation is set out below:
2014 Restated
2013
£m EPS(p) £m EPS (p)
Basic profit/(loss)/EPS 54.2 5.1 (17.8) (3.0)
Amortisation charges¹ 53.2 5.0 51.8 8.8
Ineffectiveness on financial derivatives 17.6 1.7 5.5 0.9
Exceptional items (17.6) (1.7) 62.3 10.5
Non-controlling interests on exceptional - - 4.7 0.8
items
Tax effect of above adjustments (24.9) (2.3) (39.4) (6.7)
Deferred tax credit due to change in UK (3.2) (0.3) (2.0) (0.3)
corporation tax rate
Adjusted profit/EPS 79.3 7.5 65.1 11.0
1Amortisation charges of £53.4m per note 6 less £0.2m (2013: £52.0m less £0.2m)
attributable to equity non-controlling interests.
2014 Restated
2013
Diluted EPS Pence pence
Basic 5.1 (3.0)
Adjusted 7.5 (10.9)
5 GOODWILL
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Cost
At 1 April 1,669.8 1,604.3 1,613.0
Additions - - 2.9
Disposals (7.7) (11.5) (11.3)
Foreign exchange movements (148.6) 77.0 (0.3)
At 31 March 1,513.5 1,669.8 1,604.3
Accumulated impairment losses
At 1 April 4.0 5.0 5.0
Impairment losses for the year (recorded - 4.0 -
in exceptional items)
Disposals - (5.0) -
At 31 March 4.0 4.0 5.0
Carrying amount
At 31 March 1,509.5 1,665.8 1,599.3
6 OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS
Customer Greyhound Rail Total
contracts brand and franchise
trade agreements
name
£m £m £m £m
Cost
At 1 April 2012 381.2 61.8 57.7 500.7
Foreign exchange movements 19.1 3.0 - 22.1
At 31 March 2013 400.3 64.8 57.7 522.8
Additions 1.6 - 13.7 15.3
Disposals - - (35.3) (35.3)
Foreign exchange movements (39.7) (6.7) - (46.4)
At 31 March 2014 362.2 58.1 36.1 456.4
Amortisation
At 1 April 2012 114.3 14.4 53.2 181.9
Charge for year 47.0 3.1 1.9 52.0
Foreign exchange movements 6.3 0.8 - 7.1
At 31 March 2013 167.6 18.3 55.1 241.0
Charge for year 45.4 3.0 5.0 53.4
Disposals - - (35.3) (35.3)
Foreign exchange movements (18.5) (2.1) - (20.6)
At 31 March 2014 194.5 19.2 24.8 238.5
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2014 167.7 38.9 11.3 217.9
At 31 March 2013 232.7 46.5 2.6 281.8
At 31 March 2012 266.9 47.4 4.5 318.8
7 PROPERTY PLANT & EQUIPMENT
Land and Passenger Other Total
carrying plant and
buildings vehicle equipment
fleet
£m £m £m £m
Cost
At 1 April 2012 507.3 2,623.7 666.3 3,797.3
Additions in the year 12.6 249.3 108.2 370.1
Disposals (22.5) (96.6) (25.7) (144.8)
Reclassified as held for sale (25.5) (96.7) (3.3) (125.5)
Foreign exchange movements 12.7 89.6 10.7 113.0
At 31 March 2013 484.6 2,769.3 756.2 4,010.1
Additions in the year 15.4 259.1 106.5 381.0
Disposals (10.1) (98.0) (16.9) (125.0)
Reclassified as held for sale (10.2) (69.2) - (79.4)
Foreign exchange movements (27.8) (204.9) (20.4) (253.1)
At 31 March 2014 451.9 2,656.3 825.4 3,933.6
Accumulated depreciation and
impairment
At 1 April 2012 83.5 1,293.7 413.8 1,791.0
Charge for year 11.3 217.9 135.5 364.7
Disposals (2.7) (92.8) (17.3) (112.8)
Reclassified as held for sale (4.7) (64.7) (1.8) (71.2)
Impairments (recorded in exceptional 5.6 3.7 - 9.3
items)
Foreign exchange movements 2.1 42.5 6.9 51.5
At 31 March 2013 95.1 1,400.3 537.1 2,032.5
Charge for year 9.9 209.5 124.8 344.2
Disposals (3.5) (97.2) (15.9) (116.6)
Reclassified as held for sale (6.9) (62.0) - (68.9)
Foreign exchange movements (5.2) (103.7) (13.6) (122.5)
At 31 March 2014 89.4 1,346.9 632.4 2,068.7
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2014 362.5 1,309.4 193.0 1,864.9
At 31 March 2013 389.5 1,369.0 219.1 1,977.6
At 31 March 2012 423.8 1,330.0 252.5 2,006.3
8 INVENTORIES
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Spare parts and consumables 71.3 79.7 90.6
Property development work in progress 0.1 0.2 0.4
71.4 79.9 91.0
9 TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Amounts due within one year
Trade receivables 361.9 340.2 299.8
Provision for doubtful receivables (2.9) (3.2) (4.5)
Other receivables 54.3 52.4 72.8
Other prepayments 117.6 116.6 112.1
Accrued income 132.7 135.0 121.7
663.6 641.0 601.9
10 TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES
2014 Restated Restated
2013 2012
Amounts falling due within one year £m £m £m
Trade payables 372.3 402.0 397.6
Other payables 212.4 184.3 169.1
Accruals 497.6 515.1 558.0
Deferred income 59.4 82.1 78.7
Season ticket deferred income 78.1 73.2 68.1
1,219.8 1,256.7 1,271.5
11 FINANCIAL LIABILITIES -BORROWING
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
On demand or within 1 year
Short term loans - - 69.3
Finance leases (note 12) 68.9 62.7 52.4
Bond 6.875% (repayable 2013) - 319.8 20.3
Bond 8.125% (repayable 2018) 12.9 12.8 12.9
Bond 6.125% (repayable 2019) 3.0 3.0 3.0
Bond 8.75% (repayable 2021) 30.1 30.1 30.2
Bond 5.25% (repayable 2022) 5.7 5.7 -
Bond 6.875% (repayable 2024) 7.2 7.2 7.2
Total Current Liabilities 127.8 441.3 195.3
Within 1- 2 years
Syndicated loans - 49.3 46.9
Finance leases (note 12) 70.4 63.3 51.9
Bond 6.875% (repayable 2013) - - 298.5
Loan notes (note 13) 9.7 9.7 9.7
80.1 122.3 407.0
Within 2 - 5 years
Syndicated loans - 336.1 379.1
Finance leases (note 12) 159.7 203.3 154.7
Bond 8.125% (repayable 2018) 297.4 - -
Bond 6.125% (repayable 2019) 284.5 - -
Senior unsecured loan notes 89.9 98.3 31.1
831.5 637.7 564.9
Over 5 years
Finance leases (note 12) 45.6 88.9 76.3
Bond 8.125% (repayable 2018) - 297.1 296.7
Bond 6.125% (repayable 2019) - 305.4 299.7
Bond 8.75% (repayable 2021) 347.6 347.4 347.1
Bond 5.25% (repayable 2022) 319.6 319.1 -
Bond 6.875% (repayable 2024) 199.5 199.5 199.0
Senior unsecured loan notes - - 62.2
912.3 1,557.4 1,281.0
Total non-current liabilities at 1,823.9 2,317.4 2,252.9
amortised cost
12 HP CONTRACTS AND FINANCE LEASES
The Group had the following obligations under HP contracts and finance leases
as at the balance sheet dates:
2014 2014 2013 2013 2012 2012
Minimum Present Minimum Present Minimum Present
payments value of payments value of payments value of
payments payments payments
£m £m £m £m £m £m
Due in less than one year 70.9 68.9 64.5 62.7 54.0 52.4
Due in more than one year 74.6 70.4 66.9 63.3 54.8 51.9
but not more than two years
Due in more than two years 178.9 159.7 226.9 203.3 173.9 154.7
but not more than five
years
Due in more than five years 55.0 45.6 107.3 88.9 92.6 76.3
379.4 344.6 465.6 418.2 375.3 335.3
Less future financing (34.8) - (47.4) - (40.0) -
charges
344.6 344.6 418.2 418.2 335.3 335.3
13 LOAN NOTES
The Group had the following loan notes issued as at the balance sheet dates:
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Due in more than one year but not more than two 9.7 9.7 9.7
years
14 DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Derivatives designated and effective as hedging
instruments carried at fair value
Non-current assets
Cross currency swaps (net investment hedge) - 15.2 23.2
Coupon swaps (fair value hedge) 24.1 45.7 43.8
Fuel derivatives (cash flow hedge) 1.8 2.4 5.6
25.9 63.3 72.6
Current assets
Cross currency swaps (net investment hedge) - 3.6 4.3
Coupon swaps (fair value hedge) 11.1 13.2 9.5
Fuel derivatives (cash flow hedge) 6.4 6.5 29.7
17.5 23.3 43.5
Current liabilities
Interest rate derivatives (cash flow hedge) - 8.1 8.0
Cross currency swaps (net investment hedge) - 47.6 1.2
Fuel derivatives (cash flow hedge) 5.1 4.8 3.5
5.1 60.5 12.7
Non-current liabilities
Interest rate derivatives (cash flow hedge) - 11.8 13.7
Cross currency swaps (net investment hedge) - - 27.1
Fuel derivatives (cash flow hedge) 1.3 0.8 0.9
1.3 12.6 41.7
Derivatives classified as held for trading
Current assets
Interest rate swaps 8.5 - -
Current liabilities
Interest rate swaps 12.6 4.2 4.4
Non-current liabilities
Interest rate swaps 7.9 9.1 8.4
Total non-current assets 25.9 63.3 72.6
Total current assets 26.0 23.3 43.5
Total assets 51.9 86.6 116.1
Total current liabilities 17.7 64.7 17.1
Total non-current liabilities 9.2 21.7 50.1
Total liabilities 26.9 86.4 67.2
15 DEFERRED TAX
The major deferred tax liabilities/(assets) recognised by the Group and
movements thereon during the current and prior reporting periods are as
follows:
Accelerated Retirement Other Tax Total
tax benefit temporary losses
depreciation schemes differences
£m £m £m £m £m
At 1 April 2012 as previously 228.7 (84.2) 90.6 (180.7) 54.4
reported
Prior year adjustment - - (2.1) - (2.1)
At 1 April 2012 restated 228.7 (84.2) 88.5 (180.7) 52.3
(Credit)/charge to income (60.3) 9.7 (5.2) 21.3 (34.5)
Credit to equity - (0.2) (7.6) - (7.8)
Foreign exchange movements 7.1 (3.4) 4.3 (9.0) (1.0)
At 31 March 2013 175.5 (78.1) 80.0 (168.4) 9.0
(Credit)/charge to income (28.1) 2.1 43.3 (28.3) (11.0)
(Credit)/charge to equity - (3.0) 3.9 - 0.9
Foreign exchange movements (11.0) 6.8 (11.4) 17.9 2.3
At 31 March 2014 136.4 (72.2) 115.8 (178.8) 1.2
Certain deferred tax assets and liabilities have been offset. The following is
the analysis of the deferred tax balances for financial reporting purposes:
2014 Restated Restated
2013 2012
£m £m £m
Deferred tax assets (35.8) (53.2) (43.3)
Deferred tax liabilities 37.0 62.2 95.6
1.2 9.0 52.3
No deferred tax asset has been recognised in respect of £nil (2013: £4m; 2012:
£5m) of capital losses.
16 PROVISIONS
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Insurance claims 191.6 216.2 218.4
Legal and other 29.6 40.8 19.9
Pensions 3.4 3.9 4.2
Non-current liabilities 224.6 260.9 242.5
Insurance Legal and Restated Pensions Restated
claims other FGW Total
contract
provision
£m £m £m £m £m
At 1 April 2013 332.6 50.8 39.9 3.9 427.2
Charged/(credited) to 144.5 2.0 (4.6) - 141.9
the income statement
Utilised in the year (176.1) (8.8) (35.3) (0.5) (220.7)
Notional interest 19.5 - - - 19.5
Foreign exchange (25.7) (4.1) - - (29.8)
movements
At 31 March 2014 294.8 39.9 - 3.4 338.1
Current liabilities 103.2 10.3 - - 113.5
Non-current liabilities 191.6 29.6 - 3.4 224.6
At 31 March 2014 294.8 39.9 - 3.4 338.1
Current liabilities 116.4 10.0 39.9 - 166.3
Non-current liabilities 216.2 40.8 - 3.9 260.9
At 31 March 2013 332.6 50.8 39.9 3.9 427.2
Current liabilities 117.6 4.2 67.4 - 189.2
Non-current liabilities 218.4 19.9 - 4.2 242.5
At 31 March 2012 336.0 24.1 67.4 4.2 431.7
17 CALLED UP SHARE CAPITAL
2014 2013 2012
£m £m £m
Allotted, called up and fully paid
482.1m ordinary shares of 5p each 24.1 24.1 24.1
722.8m new ordinary shares of 5p each issued 36.1 - -
1,204.9m ordinary shares of 5p each 60.2 24.1 24.1
18 NET CASH FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
2014 Restated
2013
£m £m
Operating profit 232.2 139.8
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 344.2 364.7
Capital grant amortisation (32.4) (33.1)
Amortisation charges 53.4 52.0
(Gain)/loss on disposal of businesses and (16.5) 8.8
subsidiary undertakings
Impairment charges - 13.3
Share-based payments 4.6 5.6
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 3.2 4.0
Operating cash flows before working capital 588.7 555.1
Decrease in inventories 4.8 10.6
Increase in receivables (60.0) (8.2)
Decrease in payables (18.2) (32.3)
Decrease in provisions (36.1) (12.2)
Defined benefit pension payments in excess of (27.7) (34.1)
income statement charge
Cash generated by operations 451.5 478.9
Tax paid (8.2) (6.3)
Interest paid (138.1) (129.0)
Interest element of HP contracts and finance (12.9) (10.9)
leases
Net cash from operating activities 292.3 332.7
Responsibility Statement of the Directors on the Annual Report
The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Results Announcement in
accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The responsibility statement
below has been prepared in connection with the Company's full Annual Report for
the year ended 31 March 2014. Certain points thereof are not included within
this Annual Results Announcement.
The directors confirm to the best of their knowledge:
a. the consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European
Union, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial
position and profit and loss of the Company and the undertakings included
in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
b. the Management Report, includes a fair review of the development and
performance of the business and the position of the Company and the
undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with
a description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face.
The directors consider that the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole,
is fair, balanced and understandable and provides information necessary for the
shareholders to assess the Company's and the Group's performance, business
model and strategy.
By order of the Board.
Tim O'Toole Chris Surch
Chief Executive Group Finance Director
21 May 2014 21 May 2014