AGM Extracts

FirstGroup PLC
5 July 2001


        Extracts from the presentation made to shareholders at the Group's 
                         Annual General Meeting held today:

Speaking at today's AGM in Aberdeen, FirstGroup Chairman Martin Gilbert said:

'I would just like to say a word about the tragic accidents that occurred at
Hatfield and Selby. Although none of our rail companies were directly involved
in these accidents the ramifications have affected everybody in the railway
industry. On behalf of the Board and all of the employees within the Group I
would like to express our deepest sympathy to the injured and bereaved in both
these accidents. Safety remains our highest priority throughout the business and
we continue to work closely with DuPont Safety Resources to improve performance
wherever possible and ensure that a culture of safety is embedded in everything
that we do.

Last year was another year of achievement, we have delivered on our strategy and
the Group is now focused on its three core businesses. Our North American
operations have outperformed our expectations; our UK Rail business has achieved
strong results despite the aftermath of Hatfield and our UK Bus division has
seen its third year of volume growth.

The Group's strong financial position will enable us to develop new
opportunities in our core markets and other transport related activities.
Despite the more uncertain economic outlook, I believe our companies are well
placed to grow on both sides of the Atlantic, and I remain confident about the
prospects for the Group. I am pleased to confirm that Group trading in the first
two months of the financial year is in line with our expectations.
                                   
In his review of the year, Moir Lockhead, Group Chief Executive said:

'The scale of the US market offers excellent opportunities for growth. The
combined market for Student, Transit and Vehicle Maintenance is estimated at
some $25 billion and as the most cost effective operator we are in a very strong
position to grow rapidly.

Expansion of our school bus operations has continued during the spring bidding
season and I am pleased to announce that we now expect to operate an additional
1,500 school buses for the new term starting in Autumn 2001. This represents
growth of 11.5% and will take us into a number of new states such as Alaska,
Florida, North Carolina and Maine where we have not previously operated school
buses. Our total school bus fleet will be nearly 15,000 operating across 32
states. 'We are also well on track to achieving our profit growth targets in our
Transit and Vehicle divisions. We are very optimistic that our North American
business can continue to outperform and gain market share. In the first two
months of the current year our US businesses have performed at or above
expectations.

In our Rail Division, I am pleased to say that over the first three periods of
the current year passenger volumes have continued their steady recovery. 'We
continue to press Railtrack for a speedy conclusion to their emergency track
maintenance and are discussing additional compensation from them for the
disruption to the network.'


Contacts:

FirstGroup plc

Moir Lockhead          Group Chief Executive                    01224 650102
Michael Mitchell       Corporate Communications Director        020 7291 0504