FIRST GROUP PROFITS FROM GREAT WESTERN MISERY

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: july/august 2008 :: RMTnews 7 Open six days a week - Mon to Fri - 8am until 6pm, Sat - 9.30am to 4pm e-mail: info@rmt.org.uk Legal helpline: 0800 587 7516 - Seven days a week or call the helpline on freephone 0800 376 3706 Visit www.rmt.org.uk to join online JOIN RMT BRITAIN’S SPECIALIST TRANSPORT UNION Problems at work? Call the helpline (Now with two operators and the facilities to translate into 170 languages) F irst Group, the company behind the First Great Western rail service labelled "unacceptable" by government ministers earlier this year, has announced bumper annual profits. The rail and bus group reported that annual operating profits reached £360.1 million, up 39 per cent on a year earlier. The Aberdeen-based group is the UK's largest rail operator – its other rail franchises are First ScotRail, First Capital Connect and First TransPennine Express – and its latest trading update also boasted a 10 per cent-plus rise in rail revenues during the year. In January, passengers were hit with above-inflation fare rises across the network, although FGW's poor performance prompted fare strikes by passengers. A month later it received a formal rebuke for its handling of the rail franchise and was forced into a £29 million programme of improvements at FGW, which runs services to Reading, Bristol, South Wales and the West Country. Given this poor performance and general overcrowding, these figures would appear obscene to many. Millions upon millions of pounds continue to pour into shareholders’ pockets – money that should be invested into developing the company’s rail and bus services. The profits also threw into sharp focus the folly of the Scottish executive’s recent three-year extension to the First ScotRail franchise. New revenue sharing arrangements are favourable to First and a profit-sharing scheme allows it to make £30 million a year before the extension even kicks in. The announcement was another illustration as why Britain’s rail and bus services should be returned to public ownership in order that they are operated in the national interest rather than those of greedy shareholders. First Group’s preliminary results for the year to March 31, 2008 showed: • Adjusted Operating Profit of £360.1 million across the group, up almost 40 per cent from last year. • UK Rail Adjusted Operating profit of £120 million, an increase of 10.3 per cent on last year. • UK Bus Adjusted Operating Profit of £122 million, an increase of 18.4 per cent on last year. Operating margins are 11 per cent. • Dividend payments of £69.5 million. FIRST GROUP PROFITS FROM GREAT WESTERN MISERY Companywatch