FirstGroup PLC has secured a new £150m Green Hire Purchase Financing Facility with a syndicate of three banks to support the purchase of electric bus bodies. The Facility will fund electric bus bodies, net of any government co-funding received, and is available for drawdown over three years. It will be provided in tenors of either seven or ten years, depending on the specific requirement at the time for each batch of vehicle bodies to be financed. The facility has been sized to support the purchase of up to 1,000 electric bus bodies and to broadly match the battery arrangements within the Hitachi Joint Venture.
Additionally, the company has opportunistically purchased its 2024 6.875% bonds, resulting in a reduction in future net interest cost. Purchases totaling £44.0m have been completed, and as of January 17, 2024, £128.1m of the 2024 bonds remain outstanding.
Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup Chief Executive Officer, expressed, "The innovative Green Hire Purchase Facility we have secured to support the purchase of electric buses represents another milestone for the Group. We continue to work hard to secure and optimize available funding to deliver on our First Bus decarbonization commitment, build out adjacent electrification opportunities, and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders."
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading private sector provider of public transport services, with £4.8 billion in revenue and around 30,000 employees. The company is committed to operating a zero-emission First Bus fleet by 2035 and supporting the UK Government's goal to remove all diesel-only trains from service by 2040. For more information, visit their website at www.firstgroupplc.com.