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FirstGroup Sells West Yorkshire Depots for £109m

FirstGroup has agreed to sell five West Yorkshire depots and 330 buses to the regional transport authority for £109m, and has won two bus franchise contracts worth about £40m a year in revenue.

FirstGroup (LON: FGP), the UK bus and rail operator, has agreed to sell five depots and 330 buses in West Yorkshire to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority for £109m. It also won two franchise contracts in the authority’s first of three bus tranches.

Shares closed on Friday at 216.8p, about 28% above the weekly close of 169.0p in the week of the 14th of September.

FGP.LSE

The depot sales have completed. The assets are five freehold depots and a fleet of 251 diesel and 79 electric buses. Fleet sales follow as each franchise tranche goes live, currently planned for May 2027, January 2028 and October 2028. Until then First Bus keeps running its existing commercial routes from the depots, which it leases back at a nominal rent.

The contracts cover Bramley, in Leeds, and Huddersfield, both areas where FirstGroup already operates. They start in May 2027 for a five-year core term plus a two-year option. The authority keeps the revenue risk and sets service levels, while FirstGroup delivers the service.

Combined revenue is about £40m a year, roughly 2.3% of the £1.72bn adjusted revenue FirstGroup reported for FY 2026. The depot sales bring a post-tax gain of about £30m and cash inflows of about £55m in FY 2027. Redeploying around 130 buses elsewhere in the group defers capital spending and working capital, a further cash flow benefit of about £10m over two years.

Line chart of FirstGroup's weekly closing share price over six months, rising from the low-160s pence in spring to about 217p by late October.
FirstGroup weekly closing share price, 30 April – 30 October 2026. The shares have risen about 28% since the week of the 14th of September.

Chief executive Graham Sutherland framed the deal as a partnership with the authority.

We are delighted to have reached an agreement with regards to the sale of our assets and secured these important franchise contracts. We look forward to drawing on our scale, expertise and strong operational track record to deliver high-quality, sustainable bus services in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Graham Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer, FirstGroup

The £30m gain is an adjusting item, excluded from adjusted operating profit and adjusted EPS, so it does not lift underlying earnings. Further fleet adjusting items in FY 2028 and FY 2029 depend on tranches two and three.

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