Greyhound, acquired by FirstGroup Plc in February 2007 as part of the purchase of Laidlaw International Inc., has already cut about 1,800 positions this year. FirstGroup aims to reduce costs by about $121 million a year at its North American division, said Rachel Borthwick, a spokeswoman for the company.

“There might be a little bit more out of Greyhound,” Borthwick said. “We should get to a position where the business is the right size for the current economy.”

Greyhound’s revenue probably declined by 20 percent in the past six months, Aberdeen, Scotland-based FirstGroup said today in a statement. FirstGroup also deploys school buses in the U.S.

FirstGroup fell 3.5 percent, and was down 2.1 percent at 9:46 a.m. The stock has fallen 4.1 percent this year, paring the company’s market value.

FirstGroup, Britain’s biggest rail operator, said today that overall sales for the six months through September probably matched its own forecasts as revenue at the U.K. bus unit increased 2.3 percent.

(This item was distributed by Bloomberg News Sept. 30, 2009.)