Partner Article

Serco 4.7% profit drop blamed on U.S markets

Uncertainty in the US market and a poor UK economic climate have hit the profits of outsourcing group Serco.

A fall of 4.7% in pre-tax profits to just under £118m did not prevent the company from predicting a positive outlook however.

With plans to seize upon £31m of global opportunities,such as the buying of UK prisons, Serco reported strong growth in Australasia and the Middle East despite challenges elsewhere.

Christopher Hyman, CEO of Serco Group said: ““I am pleased with the overall performance of the business over the last six months, particularly the quality and efficiency of the services delivered by our people.

“As we continue to build Serco’s international portfolio, our newly established global Business Process Outsourcing division has already seen a high level of contract wins and many with private sector customers.

“The recent level of new contract wins across the group will help us deliver the anticipated strong financial performance in the second half of the year.”

The firm responsible for London’s Boris Bikes scheme, as well as over 700 other contracts worldwide, reported a dividend of 2.65 pence per share, up 6% year-on-year.

Serco’s boss also predicted improvement in UK conditions and expected the second-half results to counteract the first 6 months 2% revenue decline.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .