A year on from Carillion: 12 months that brought outsourcing to its knees January 15, 2019 On the anniversary of Carillion’s dramatic collapse, two more public sector outsourcing giants, Interserve and Kier Group, are up against the ropes. In the intervening 12 months, outsourcers have lurched from one crisis to another, with profit warnings, massive project failures and revelations of systemic late payment of suppliers. City A.M. charts a year which [...]
Carillion one year on: Government outsourcers are still struggling with growing debt piles January 15, 2019 On the anniversary of Carillion’s collapse, government outsourcers are still reporting ballooning debt levels as they try to balance the books. Kier Group, Interserve, Serco, Sodexo and Sopra Steria, who are all on the government’s list of strategic suppliers for 2019, have taken on hundreds of millions of pounds worth of debt in the last [...]
Serco shares jump to 14-month high as government awards decade-long asylum seeker housing contracts worth billions January 8, 2019 Outsourcers Serco and Mears have been tasked with providing a decades-worth of accommodation and support for asylum seekers across the UK, in a string of billion-pound contract awards. The 10-year contracts, worth £1.9bn for Serco and £1bn for Mears, bumped both companies’ share prices up around seven per cent today. Home Office minister Baroness Susan [...]
Serco share price jumps as losses beat expectations August 11, 2015 Shares in troubled outsourcer jumped nearly three per cent to 129.2p in early trading after it displayed Churchillian levels of stoicism… The figures In a statement this morning, Serco said revenues in the six months to the end of June fell to £1.8bn, from £2bn this time last year, while its operating profit fell to a £24.8m loss [...]
Serco share price rallies as it reaffirms profit and sales forecasts for this year July 1, 2015 Shares in Serco were rallied today after the embattled outsourcing company reaffirmed its profit and sales forecasts for this financial year. Shares in Serco closed up 7.7 per cent to 125.7p per share in London this afternoon. At the open this morning they had jumped as much as 13 per cent. "Trading in the year to-date [...]
Serco share price dips as investors back rights issue April 17, 2015 Some good news for Serco: the troubled outsourcer said this morning its shareholders had largely supported a rights issue, with acceptances for 520m of 549m (that's 95 per cent) of new ordinary shares offered. The one-for-one rights issue, priced at 101p per new ordinary share, closed on Thursday. This morning, shares dipped 0.2 per cent to [...]
Serco sells luxury Australian rail service Great Southern Rail to Allegro March 30, 2015 Serco, the troubled outsourcer run by Rupert Soames, has extricated itself from Great Southern Rail, it announced this morning. The company said it will sell the "luxury" long-distance rail service to Australian private equity firm Allegro for £2.5m. Earlier this month shares in the outsourcer fell as much as 16 per cent after it posted [...]
Crunch time for troubled Serco Group as vote on proposed rights issue looms March 29, 2015 Shareholders in troubled outsourcing firm Serco will vote today on a proposed rights issue, aimed at raising £550m. The company’s shares dipped by over 30 per cent in the hours following the announcement of its plans in November, which came along with a profit warning for 2014. Serco stated at the time that it would [...]
Serco share price plunges as much as 16 per cent after first revenue fall in 25 years March 12, 2015 The figures Outsourcing firm Serco said full-year revenue fell to £3.95bn, down from £4.28bn a year earlier. The company also made a £1.35bn operating loss, compared to a £146m operating profit in 2013. Shares in Serco fell as much as 16 per cent to 174p in mid-morning trade as investors reacted to the results. Why it's interesting Serco's woes [...]
Troubled Serco could be target for short-sellers February 15, 2015 Struggling outsourcing firm Serco is attracting attention from short-sellers, who are expecting further bad news from the company this year. Hampshire-based Serco revealed in November that it was to raise £550m through a rights issue, at the same time announcing a profit warning for 2014. The firm did not pay a dividend last year as [...]