Serco Group PLC on Thursday said its outlook for 2024 is unchanged from the view given in late-June despite decreased revenue in the first half of the year.

Serco is an outsourcer based in Hampshire, England. It focuses on defence, justice & immigration, transport, health & other facilities management and citizen services.

Serco reported a 5% fall in revenue to £2.36 billion for the six months that ended June 30, from £2.47 billion a year before.

The firm attributed this to exits from low margin contracts as well as changes caused by rebidding contracts in North America.

Pretax profit decreased by 35% to £114.0 million for the half from £176.7 million a year prior.

Serco announced an interim dividend per share of 1.34 pence, up 18% from a year before.

Serco shares were down 3.9% to 184.10p each in London on Thursday.

Looking ahead, Serco said its outlook for 2024 is unchanged from the view given in late-June.

Back in June, Serco increased guidance for underlying operating profit by 4% to £270 million for the full year, from £260 million. The firm said it is on track to meet guidance, and reported £142 million underlying operating profit in the first half.

Revenue for the full year is expected to be around £4.8 billion, down slightly from £4.9 billion in 2023.

Chief Executive Mark Irwin commented: ‘We are pleased with progress so far in 2024 and the steps we are taking to deliver profitable, sustainable growth aligned to our medium-term goals. The business has a very healthy pipeline of potential new work, a business plan to deliver margin improvement from a rigorous approach to operational efficiency, a network of partnerships to support technology enablement and a robust balance sheet providing good optionality for capital allocation’.

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.