FirstGroup warns on profit after flooding, driver shortages

LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - British transport company FirstGroup (LSE: FGP.L - news) warned that profit would come in lower than it expected, blaming wet weather and flooding in Britain and driver shortages in the United States.

FirstGroup, which runs trains in some parts of Britain and yellow school buses in the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ., said on Thursday that management's outlook for operating profit in the year to Mar. 31 was "slightly lowered" by trading during its third quarter.

In Britain, fewer people had caught the bus due to wet weather and flooding, while the number of shopping trips into towns fell, FirstGroup said. Acute driver shortages in the U.S. due to a tightening labour market pushed up its costs, it added.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)