First Group Speculation

[First Class]

RE: First Group Speculation
Sale of Birkenhead and Chester bus businesses

As part of the Group's stated strategy to reposition its UK Bus division to
focus on those areas that offer the greatest potential for growth, we are
pleased to announce the sale of our Birkenhead and Chester bus businesses to
Stagecoach Group plc for a consideration of GBP4.5m. On completion of the sale
our Birkenhead and Chester bus depots as well as a leased outstation in Wrexham
and around 110 vehicles and approximately 290 employees will transfer to
Stagecoach.

Commenting Giles Fearnley, First's Managing Director, UK Bus said:

"Birkenhead and Chester are businesses where we have previously seen lower than
average margins and they are not core to our operations. They fit better with
Stagecoach's existing portfolio in the area and also allow us to realise
efficiencies in support costs. The sale of these operations marks further
progress in disposing of selected assets and businesses as we review the scope
and scale of our portfolio and reposition it for the longer term. We are
progressing our detailed programme to recover performance and equip our UK Bus
business to achieve sustainable revenue and patronage growth."