Stock drops on Serco warning over earnings January 30, 2014 TROUBLED outsourcing firm Serco yesterday warned that profits would fall in 2014, overshadowing the good news that its ban on winning new government work had been lifted. The FTSE 100-quoted company was barred from winning fresh government contracts due to allegations of fraud, but yesterday the Cabinet Office said that the firm “had developed a [...]
Serco sheds 16pc on tagging-related profit warning January 30, 2014 Disgraced government contractor Serco has seen its shares plunge 16 per cent this morning, after it issued a profit warning. Serco announced that it’s expecting a fall in operating profit of up to 20 per cent in 2014, because of less work being secured and the "attrition" from lost contracts, including the government's electronic tagging [...]
Labour demands parliamentary review into defence outsourcing January 29, 2014 THE DEBATE over the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) outsourcing initiatives raged on yesterday, after Labour called for full parliamentary scrutiny of the department’s plans to hire a private company to support the management of its military estate. The MoD has denied that it is privatising or outsourcing the way it runs its military estate, but [...]
Tomorrow’s DLR strike called off January 28, 2014 A 48-hour strike on the Docklands Light Railway due to start tomorrow has been called off, according to reports from RMT London Calling. The GGC has agreed to accept pay offers from Serco Docklands AND Carlisle. As a result all strikes are called off. Transport for London has confirmed the announcement, saying that services will [...]
40pc of rail passengers are upset by this commuter nightmare January 21, 2014 The state of the toilets on Britain’s railways is the biggest bugbear for passengers, according to the latest national rail passenger survey. The biannual poll, which quizzes thousands of passengers, found that four in ten are dissatisfied with the toilet facilities and just 36 per cent were happy with the loos, down three percentage points [...]
Computacenter posts higher revenue January 16, 2014 IT services provider Computacenter reported a rise in full-year group revenue that exceeded analysts’ estimates, boosted by a strong demand for its maintenance services in the UK. Revenue grew six per cent in 2013, said Computacenter, whose clients include Lloyds Banking Group, Serco Group , British Telecom, Deutsche Bank, WM Morrison and EDF. Computacenter reported [...]
Serco shares fall on bungled accommodation for asylum seekers January 10, 2014 Scandal-enveloped Serco and G4S – the security companies that over-charged the government for the electronic tagging of released, in jail or dead prisoners – have been criticised by the National Audit Office for failing to deliver on a £620m deal to provide accommodation for asylum seekers. Along with fellow contractor Clearel, G4S and Serco won [...]
Serco awarded extension to run Boris Bikes January 9, 2014 SERCO, the beleaguered outsourcing firm under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), yesterday said it has won a £38m two-year contract extension with Transport for London (TfL) to manage and operate the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. The original contract to design, build and operate the service – commonly known as Boris Bikes, named after [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 January 2014 January 5, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SERCO Panmure Gordon has named the outsourcer as one of its top picks for 2014, giving the stock a “buy” rating and 560p target price. The broker, whose top picks last year outperformed the market by 19.1 per cent, reckons Serco’s valuation is [...]
Serco forced to pay £68.5m for contract flaws December 19, 2013 SHARES in beleaguered outsourcing company Serco rallied in trading yesterday after the company said it had reached a £68.5m settlement with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) over allegations it overcharged on contracts. The company had run into trouble over allegations it overcharged for electronically tagging prisoners. It was later found that some of these were [...]