FirstGroup sells German bus unit

Rail and bus firm FirstGroup has announced the sale of its German bus operations for 5.5m euros (£4.8m). The Aberdeen-based transport company said it had sold FirstGroup Deutschland to Marwyn European Transport. FirstGroup chief executive Tim O'Toole said the disposal marked "a further step in our programme of small asset and business disposals". This was part of the group's strategy to focus on its core operations in the UK and North America, he added. FirstGroup Deutschland operates about 130 buses in the Rhineland Pfalz region in south-west Germany. On Thursday, FirstGroup said it expected like-for-like passenger revenue at its UK rail division to rise by 9% in the six months to 30 September, and revenue at its UK bus division to increase by 1.2%. FirstGroup also operates school buses and the coach business Greyhound in the US.