ONE of Plymouth's biggest public transport operators, FirstGroup, has said it has achieved 'further good growth' in the period from October to December – but, despite this, shares in the firm fell by almost 19 per cent in the week.

A spokesman at the firm said the bus and train arms of the company had been performing well over the past year – however bosses will look at 'keeping costs down' during the economic downturn.

The firm released its report on trading in the three months to December 31 this week and bosses insisted the company is 'well placed to withstand the economic downturn', despite the 11 per cent plunge in share prices in the FTSE 100.

Much of the blame was put on First's US-based Greyhound bus arm, which suffered a disappointing festive period. The company also admitted its UK growth rates have been hit by the economic climate.

But the firm said its UK bus division had seen a rise in revenue of almost eight per cent, as passengers opt for cheaper travel.

Stuart Bugg, spokesman for the firm, said: "There are going to be some initiatives we are looking at to keep costs down – but we are pleased with our performance in our UK bus division over the past year."

Mr Bugg said there had been a 'strong trading performance' by the company's bus operations and that passenger levels were up on the buses 'despite petrol being cheaper for drivers'.

He also said the new network of 'ugobuses' in Plymouth have been a success. First's ugobus service – a re-branding of its former vehicles – is a bid to 'make bus travel in Plymouth as simple as possible'.

He said: "Buses are still a value-for-money product.

"We are working hard to keep our costs down and driver turnover has also gone down to below 20 per cent, which may sound high, but that's very low for the transport industry."

As for rail, Mr Bugg said there was still growth taking place for the firm, adding to the 'amazing growth story over the past 10 years'.

He said revenue for the rail arm went up 7.2 per cent in October, November and December – and passenger volumes were up 4.6 per cent.

He said: "We are still growing but more slowly. We are not immune to what's going on in the rest of the world.

"A rise of 7.2 per cent in revenue is a good performance in this economy.

"Overall the business is in a strong position to withstand the current global economic difficulties.

"We are going to have to work hard and we have to make sure our services offer good quality to our customers and that we are doing what we need to do and that we are bearing down on our costs."