I wouldn't look upon it as obtaining extra profit, I'd be trying hard to ensure that I maintain the profits in the few areas that are already achieving it. It's probably a very interesting discussion to have as to whether Plymouth, Chester, Wigan etc are doing so much better now they have new vehicles or whether they are doing so much better now that they have new management......
There are a few things to consider
We don't actually know how well these places are trading. Clearly, places like Wigan were massively overdue fleet replacement with R reg Excels and P reg Darts pootling around the place.
Also, in the case of Plymouth, there was the ridiculous Ugobus incursion and the subsequent sell up to Go Ahead of PCB. The fall out was bad enough but then Go Ahead turned the tables and began all out war with a mortally weakened First. With Stagecoach going in there, and peace immediately being declared, it was going to allow fleet replacement.
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Surely a big part of the equation would be moving nearly new stock to lesser performing opcos (Im thinking 12 plate gemini and 14 plate enviros)? Other parts of Yorkshire might have first call, but this could be a way to get better quality vehicles to the Midlands or Eastern Counties. Something similar happened in 2015 when Glasgow got 70ish new vehicles. Seems quite sensible to me.
That's already happened with First Eastern Counties getting a number of ex Leeds 12 plate Geminis. To a lesser extent, Essex did get a number of e400s from Leicester as Trident replacements, displaced by new Streetdecks.
I think in terms of Potteries, they're trying to strike the balance between putting in new fleet (but being crippled by the depreciation cost) and not trying to gently upgrade the rest of the fleet (ALX B7TLs being replaced by newer B7 Geminis).