Transport giant FirstGroup today said the disruption caused by “superstorm” Sandy had hit profits at its US school bus operations by $15 million (£9.5m).
The Aberdeen-based group said: “The storm, which affected the entire eastern seaboard, parts of the midwest and eastern Canada, impacted some 130 of our locations and led to the closure of schools for up to nine days.
“This is expected to adversely impact operating profit by approximately $15m in 2012-13. Nevertheless, our current expectations for underlying margin performance for the full year remain broadly unchanged.”
Setting aside the impact from Sandy, chief executive Tim O’Toole said trading during the third quarter was in line with the firm’s expectations, with like-for-like passenger revenues at its UK bus division up 2.1 per cent in the three months to 31 December.
The group’s rail division, which was rocked by last year’s debacle over the bidding process for the West Coast mainline franchise, saw revenues rise 8.1 per cent.
O’Toole said: “We look forward to receiving details on the recommencement of the franchise process and submitting further high-quality bids that deliver for passengers, taxpayers and shareholders.”
FirstGroup currently holds the ScotRail franchise, and last month it was handed a five-month extension to the contract, which had been due to expire in November 2014.