ABERDEEN, Scotland So, six months on, hows the British makeover of Greyhound Lines going?

In the first report card issued by FirstGroup on its stewardship of Greyhound, the Scottish-based bus and rail company has given itself high marks.

FirstGroup acquired Greyhound on Oct. 1, when it purchased Laidlaw International for $3.5 billion. Since then it is has been brushing and grooming Greyhound, implementing more than a dozen initiatives aimed at both increasing revenue and cutting costs.

Thus far, says FirstGroup in a financial report issued last month, it has reduced costs at Greyhound by $30 million to $40 million on an annual basis and boosted revenues by more than $30 million on a yearly basis.

The report on Greyhound was a key aspect of the fiscal 2008 financial results released by FirstGroup last month. FirstGroups fiscal year ended March 31, meaning the results for Greyhound were for the six months from Oct. 1 when it was acquired -- through March 31. First Group did not present comparative year-earlier results for Greyhound because at that time Greyhound was owned by Laidlaw, and Laidlaws fiscal year did not mesh with that of FirstGroup.

However, some limited comparisons are possible.

In the FirstGroup fiscal '08 report, Dean Finch, chief operating officer of FirstGroup North America, noted that when FirstGroup took over Greyhound "revenue trends had been weakening.

"Since then, actions we have taken have stabilized the business and I am pleased to report that during the last three months of the financial year we delivered year-on-year revenue growth."

For the six months ended March 31, FirstGroup said Greyhound had revenue of $565.8 million and earnings (before depreciation and amortization) of $45.4 million.

During the six months ended Feb. 28, 2007, when Greyhound was owned by Laidlaw, it had revenue of $550.8 million, and gross earnings of $17.2 million.

Initiatives implemented at Greyhound to improve revenue include:

Launching BoltBus, the curbside service operating in the northeastern U.S.

Instituting extra charges for priority seating and excess baggage

Improved yield management practices and ticketing structure

Enhanced Web partnerships and more online ticket sales

New peak and holiday fares strategy

Changes to refund and ticketing policies

New charging structure for call center and online sales

Greyhound cost-cutting strategies include:

Reducing agent commission rates and arrangements

Consolidating company headquarters in Dallas at one location

Relocating the Phoenix call center

Insurance reduction initiatives

Reducing cost of sales

Merging subsidiaries

FirstGroup notes one other accomplishment of which it is particularly proud: It says it has improved Greyhounds on-time performance.

"The (Greyhound) buses were not punctual (when we bought the business)," said FirstGroup Chief Executive Moir Lockhead. "Only 60 percent were on time. In April we got that to just under 90 percent," Lockhead noted.

Finch said he has a separate team of people who continue to focus on "opportunities" at Greyhound.

For FirstGroup a whole, the company said its combined adjusted operating profit for the year to end March 31, was up nearly 40 percent at 360 million pounds (roughly $700 million U.S.), in line with expectations, and that its outlook was positive.

FirstGroup also announced it had raised 236 million pounds ($460 million U.S.) in a private share placing to help fund growth in the U.S. and reduce debt.