G4S sells shares to push down £2bn debt pile August 28, 2013 SECURITY group G4S yesterday drew a line under the swashbuckling era of former chief executive Nick Buckles as it announced a series of drastic moves designed to avoid an embarrassing credit rating downgrade. G4S – whose reputation took a battering after it failed to supply enough guards for last year’s Olympic Games – yesterday raised £350m [...]
Bottom Line: New broom sweeps in a fresh start August 28, 2013 LET’S move past the disappointing set of numbers that G4S released yesterday for a moment – investors certainly did – and take a closer look at Ashley Almanza, tasked with the unenviable job of turning the firm around after Nick Buckles fell on his sword in May. Just three months into the role, Almanza [...]
Best of the Brokers for 27 August 2013 August 26, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SERCO Panmure Gordon rates Serco a “buy” with a target price of 700p and predicts upbeat first half results on Thursday. However it calls for caution as analysts say “the fall-out from the electronic tagging contract is not clear in its core business”. [...]
London Week Ahead: Mark versus market in first public speech August 26, 2013 BANK of England governor Mark Carney’s keynote lunch speech to business leaders in Nottingham tomorrow has already been dubbed “Mark versus Market” – with market watchers dubious about Carney’s claims for long-term low interest rates. Rob Wood, economist at Berenberg Bank, said: “Growing momentum in the economy, rapidly rising house prices, and wide disagreements on [...]
Capita in running for tagging deal August 20, 2013 Capita and Telefonica are among the preferred bidders for the Ministry of Justice’s criminal tagging contract, which is currently run by Serco and G4S, the MoJ said yesterday. Astrium and British firm Buddi are also set to supply the new kit, which will track offenders using satellite technology on ankle tags.
Government names preferred bidders for electronic tagging contract August 20, 2013 The Ministry of Justice has selected preferred bidders for four contracts to deliver new satellite technology to track the movement of offenders in the community, including outsourcing giant Capita and British family-run company buddi (release). It’s the first time the service has been let nationally, and is expected to generate significant efficiency savings for the [...]
Boris Bikes set to get harder to find as staff stage two-day strike August 11, 2013 BORIS Bike workers last night began a 48-hour strike over pay and conditions, in a move that is set to reduce the number of cycles available on London’s streets. Around 150 staff have refused to work until 9pm tomorrow, meaning there will be fewer drivers to move bikes to areas with high demand. “Staff running [...]
G4S drops bid for tag contract after scandals August 6, 2013 GLOBAL security services firm G4S has dropped out of the bidding for a government electronic tagging contract worth £150m after a scandal over a previous deal. In July, justice secretary Chris Grayling said G4S had overcharged the government by millions of pounds on two previous agreements, tagging people who were already imprisoned or dead. According [...]
Serco confirms new £810m US health contract August 5, 2013 SERVICES company Serco yesterday confirmed that it has been awarded a new contract by the US Department of Health, worth $1.25bn (£810m). The FTSE 100-listed firm will handle applications for a number of insurance affordability programmes including Medicaid services. The contract has a one-year base period valued at around $115m with four further one-year options, [...]
Serco confirms US health services contract worth up to $1.25bn August 5, 2013 Services company Serco Group has confirmed the award of a contract worth up to $1.25bn (£820m) to support the US’s Medicare and Medicaid services. Under the contract, which has a one-year base period valued at around $115m with another four one-year options, Serco will provide processing support for the country’s health benefit exchanges designed to [...]