Aberdeen-headquartered transport giant FirstGroup plc said it has completed the buy-in of its £90 million Group Section Pension liabilities.

“The Group Section escrow of c.£22 million has been utilised to complete the transaction. £17.5 million has been returned to the Group and £2.1 million applied towards the buy-in premium,” said FirstGroup.

“The balance of c.£2.7 million has been retained in escrow to cover transaction legal and advisory costs and ultimately convert this to buy-out in the near term.

“The Group retains c.£44 million in escrow relating to the Bus Section that will be reviewed as part of the 2030 triennial valuation.”

Ryan Mangold, FirstGroup Chief Financial Officer, said: “Since 2020, we have settled c.£1.7bn of pension obligations, securing the pensions of former employees, substantially reducing pension risk and realising value for the Group.

“Our remaining pension schemes are well funded, and our focus remains on managing them efficiently while maintaining a strong balance sheet to support our capital allocation priorities.”