Analyst Views: What did you make of Serco’s update? December 19, 2013 CAROLINE DE LA SOUJEOLE | CANTOR FITZGERALD “We do not subscribe to the view that the worst is over. Last week, Serco announced it was taking a £17m onerous contract provision against three underperforming healthcare contracts. We believe the pace of contract awards could remain sluggish in the short term MIKE ALLEN PANMURE | GORDON [...]
Serco to repay government £68.5m for tagging scandal December 19, 2013 Serco has agreed to repay the government £68.5m for overcharging for its tagging of criminals, Justice secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed. Both Serco and rival G4S have been found to have overcharged on contracts dating back to 2005, in a review prompted by allegations surrounding the two firms. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened a [...]
Serco raises cost estimate of tagging probe December 19, 2013 Another blow for embattled outsourcing company Serco. The group is currently the subject of an investigation into whether it overcharged the government for its electronic tagging of prisoners, and it's now upped its estimate of how much the review will cost it – from £12m to £17m, with accounting and other one-off costs increasing from [...]
Capita wins tag contracts from G4S and Serco December 12, 2013 OUTSOURCING firm Capita has been chosen to take over the prisoner tagging contracts currently held by G4S and Serco, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said yesterday. G4S and Serco are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to the contracts, on allegations that they charged for tagging criminals who were either dead, [...]
Capita picks up government tagging contracts after Serco and G4S scandal December 12, 2013 Outsourcing group Capita will be assuming responsibility for the government's so-called tagging contracts for monitoring prisoners, Justice secretary Chris Grayling said today. The coalition plans to introduce state-of-the-art satellite tagging, which'll save time and money when it comes to tracking criminals, and policing, it says. The statement confirmed that the Ministry of Justice will have [...]
Serco sells UK transport technology business November 27, 2013 Serco announced yesterday that it has sold its London streets maintenance and UK transport technology business to Cubic Corporation for £43.5m. The FTSE 100 outsourcer, which lost out on a contract to run prisons in South Yorkshire last week and is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for its electronic tagging work, said the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 25 November 2013 November 24, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WOLSELEY Peel Hunt has a “hold” rating and 3,300p target ahead of the building materials group’s first-quarter update on Thursday. The broker is keen to see signs of stabilising European sales, and believes the firm has good enough cash flow to push for [...]
Blow for Serco as Yorkshire prisons remain in public hands November 22, 2013 Troubled outsourcing company Serco has been dealt a fresh blow as the government confirmed that Yorkshire prisons Hatfield, Moorland and Lindholm will continue to be run by the public sector. Serco had been in the leading position to win contracts for the institutions, should they be privatised. The firm remains under criminal investigation, and yesterday [...]
Serco UK and Europe boss steps down to accelerate renewal plan November 21, 2013 OUTSOURCING firm Serco said yesterday its head of UK and Europe would step down as the firm, currently under criminal investigation, looks to win back the trust of the UK government. In a statement the firm announced UK and Europe operations chief Andrew White will take over from Jeremy Stafford on an interim basis. “Serco [...]
Serco boss steps down after tagging scandal November 21, 2013 One of security company Serco's chiefs, Jeremy Stafford, has decided to step down as chief executive of UK & Europe as the company "has been working hard to refresh its relationship with central government in the UK". Andrew White, chief operating officer of UK & Europe, will take over the role on an interim basis. [...]