Soaring Tesco helps FTSE but Serco plummets – London Report November 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday advanced to a five-week high as investors bought into the consumer staples and retail sectors, with ailing supermarket group Tesco leading the gainers. The stand-out mover of the day, however, was mid-cap services outsourcer Serco, whose shares fell 32.2 per cent to 215p after saying it planned a rights issue [...]
Serco share price tanks as it warns of lower profits and plans £550m rights issue November 10, 2014 Shares in outsourcing firm Serco plunged more than 31 per cent in the first minutes of trading as it announced a £550m rights issue. In an update to the market this morning the company, which has been beset by a string of woes including being accused of over-charging the government for the electronic tagging of [...]
FirstGroup fails in bid to renew ScotRail franchise October 8, 2014 First Group will not continue to run the ScotRail route, the transport operator has announced. In a statement released this morning the company, which does business both in the UK and North America, said it was disappointed not to have retained the contract and pointed to "our record of improvement across every measurable score". The [...]
Shortlist for northern rail franchise picked August 19, 2014 THE SHORTLIST of companies vying to run all rail services in the north of England was announced by the government yesterday. The Department for Transport said FirstGroup, Keolis and Stagecoach were being considered to run the TransPennine Express (TPE) franchise from 2016. TPE is currently run by a joint venture between FirstGroup and Keolis. The [...]
G4S shakes off tagging scandal as earnings rise August 13, 2014 OUTSOURCING firm G4S yesterday showed that its turnaround was gathering momentum, as it posted a 13.2 per cent rise in first-half earnings on the back of £1.2bn worth of new contracts. The FTSE 100 company, which has undergone a corporate overhaul to shrug off the prisoner tagging scandal, saw earnings rise to £86m, while revenue [...]
Look out Serco, G4S is leaner and meaner – Bottom Line August 13, 2014 Serco should sit up and take notice of G4S’ progress. While both firms were in the mire last year due to a prisoner tagging scandal, G4S swiftly set about overhauling its management and streamlining the business. And it’s working. Admittedly, most of G4S’ growth is coming from emerging markets rather than the UK, but a [...]
Serco warns of lower revenue next year as profit dives August 12, 2014 The magnitude of the challenge facing Rupert Soames was revealed yesterday, as embattled outsourcing firm Serco reported a 66 per cent slump in first-half profit and confirmed that revenues would fall next year, missing industry forecasts. The results came ahead of today’s damning report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons into Serco’s management of Doncaster prison, [...]
Serco reports half-year loss of £7.3m as Angus Cockburn is made new finance chief August 12, 2014 Serco has reported a first-half pre-tax loss of £7.3m, in the wake of a scandal surrounding the company’s use of electronic tags on prisoners. In the same period last year the outsourcing company reported profits of £106m. The company also announced this morning the appointment of Angus Cockburn – currently Aggreko’s interim chief [...]
London Report: UK labour data and inflation report to form rates outlook August 10, 2014 LABOUR market data and the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report due this week will point to the likelihood of rate rises in the near future. “Latest labour market data is likely to show a further marked drop in unemployment but still muted earnings growth,” said Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight. “A further marked fall [...]
Best of the Brokers for 07 August 2014 August 6, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BAE SYSTEMS Westhouse Securities has maintained its “sell” rating for BAE Systems, noting soft bill-to-book ratios and concerns over the US defence budget. It has praised BAE’s growing commercial cyber-security department and core UK business, leaving the target price unchanged. SERCO GROUP Numis [...]