Serco’s share price soars after forecasting a sunny future with raised profit guidance September 28, 2018 Shares at Serco soared almost 15 per cent in early morning trading, as the outsourcing giant trumped City expectations after lifting its full-year profit guidance. The FTSE 250 group said it now expects underlying trading profit between £90-£95m, marking a stark rise from the previous estimates of around £69.8m reported last year. Shares jumped more than 14 per [...]
Taxpayers to foot £65m bill from Carillion redundancies September 25, 2018 Taxpayers are set to cough up £65m in redundancy payouts following the collapse of outsourcer giant Carillion. The liquidated construction services company, which bucked under the weight of a £1.5bn debt pile in January, has so far paid out £50m of the total £65m after thousands of workers were made redundant. The figures also [...]
Labour mulls break-up of Big Four accountancy firms September 21, 2018 The Labour party is weighing up radical plans to break up the Big Four accountancy firms, amid mounting pressure on the UK’s scandal-hit auditors. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell vowed to end what he described as a “cartel” among the country’s largest bean counters in the run-up to his party conference this weekend. “They have demonstrated [...]
Kier defies expectations with strong profits as order book swells September 20, 2018 Construction and services company Kier Group posted a better-than-expected nine per cent rise in profit this morning, fighting off investor fears following the collapse of competitor Carillion earlier in the year. Bolstered by a growing order book, the FTSE 250 firm’s underlying pre-tax profit jumped to £137m in the year to June, compared with £126m [...]
A summer to forget: KPMG reputation dealt another blow after admitting to compliance report misconduct September 19, 2018 Scandal-hit KPMG has admitted to misconduct over compliance reports made for a unit of the Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon Group in another fresh embarrassment for one of the Big Four accountancy firms. The UK’s accountancy watchdog said today that KPMG and one of its partners Richard Hinton accepted they had fallen short of standards [...]
John Laing Infrastructure Fund £1.4bn deal nears completion as board agrees takeover terms September 19, 2018 John Laing Infrastructure Fund’s (JLIF) board has agreed to a major acquisition deal this morning, giving a green light to a £1.4bn takeover for one of the UK’s largest infrastructure investors. JLIF, which owns part of landmarks such as the Ministry of Defence headquarters, said it had received no competing proposals for the acquisition made [...]
PwC UK chairman resists calls for Big Four breakup as firm posts record revenues September 17, 2018 The chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers UK said the Big Four accountant has learnt from its mistakes and improved processes, after it raised revenues despite settling two regulatory investigations in the past year. Kevin Ellis, PwC’s UK chairman and senior partner, told City A.M. he stands by the company’s opposition to breaking up the Big Four accountancy firms, [...]
EY boss hits back at calls to break up Big Four September 13, 2018 The global chief executive of EY has hit back at criticism of the Big Four financial services firms, which have been slammed for the lack of competition in the audit market following high-profile corporate collapses. The company, which today announced boosted global revenue of $34.8bn in the financial year to the end of June, came under [...]
Carillion bags £4.1bn government contract August 10, 2015 Carillion has won a new government outsourcing contract that could be worth up to £4.1bn. The FTSE100-listed business has been selected as part of a new “facilities management services agreement”, which will run until 2019. The new agreement replaces the current framework for facilities management contracts and relates to central government departments, executive agencies and [...]
Carillion trading stays strong despite pre-election jitters July 14, 2015 Carillion chief executive Richard Howson could be forgiven for sporting a slight smirk. After Balfour Beatty insisted it didn't need a £3bn merger with the construction giant last year, then issued a profit warning last week, it's a different story for its prospective benefactor, which this morning said it expected a significant increase in first-half revenue. It also [...]