FirstGroup shares edge higher as second buyback tranche begins

FirstGroup moved into the second phase of its £100 million share buyback on Monday, after completing the first tranche, with shares ticking marginally higher.

FirstGroup plc completed the first, £25 million tranche of its £100 million on-market share buyback on Friday, and the second tranche began on Monday, the company confirmed.

Shares in the FTSE 250 transport group were trading at 182p on Monday morning, up 0.11% on the previous close of 181.8p. The stock has ranged between 152.10p and 240.40p over the past year, according to FirstGroup’s trading history, leaving Monday’s move well within recent bounds.

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Buyback moves to its second stage

FirstGroup said RBC Europe Limited completed the first tranche of the buyback on 24 July, purchasing 13,553,662 ordinary shares for a total of £24,806,895, which are now held in treasury. Panmure Liberum Limited has taken over to run the second, £25 million tranche with effect from Monday. The company said the third and fourth tranches are expected to proceed as set out in its original announcement.

Following the first tranche, FirstGroup holds 21,717,828 ordinary shares in treasury, with 548,977,187 shares now in issue excluding those treasury holdings.

The £100 million buyback programme was first announced on 18 June 2026. Splitting the repurchase into four tranches, run by different brokers, is a standard structure for larger buyback programmes and allows the company to spread purchases over several months rather than concentrating them in one window.

Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock. Ruairi Cullinane at RBC Capital Markets maintained a Buy rating on FirstGroup with a 255p price target in a note released on 3 July. Separate analyst coverage this month pointed to an average target price above 250p across the analysts covering the stock, implying significant upside from current levels.

Attention now turns to the pace of the remaining tranches and any further transaction updates, which FirstGroup is required to disclose to the market as they occur. With two of four tranches still to run, the buyback will continue to shape trading volumes and the company’s treasury share count over the coming months, even as the shares themselves have shown only modest reaction to the programme’s progress so far.