| Updated:
Private sector buoys Logica
IT services company Logica yesterday beat quarterly sales growth forecasts due to stronger private-sector demand for outsourcing and said its British operation should return to growth in the second-half. The Anglo-Dutch company, hit by public spending cuts in Europe, said it continued to expect growth above the market rate and a modest margin improvement this year, after first-quarter orders rose 29 per cent. Logica’s first-quarter sales grew five per cent to £978m, above a forecast for £951m, boosted by 13 per cent growth in outsourcing. Logica said a £30m restructuring it was undertaking would deliver around £15m benefit from the end of the second-quarter and contribute to the expected 2011 margin improvement.