FirstGroup Posts H1 Profit

FirstGroup PLC FGROY posted a pretax profit in the first six months of the year. FirstGroup swung to a a pretax profit of 9.9 million pounds ($15.83 million), versus a year-ago pretax loss of GBP8.0 million. Underlying pretax profit surged to GBP33.3 million in the period, compared to GBP19.6 million. Its revenue slipped to GBP2.94 billion versus GBP3.30 billion. UK Rail operating profit climbed to GBP40 million versus GBP25.8 million, while UK Bus operating profit gained to GBP16.9 million from GBP15.9 million. Operating margin widened to 3.5% from 3.1%.