Business
Guidance increased following good first half
Guidance increased following good first half.
About this update from Serco Group Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nFull year guidance increased following good progress in first half\n27 June 2024\n \nSerco today provides its scheduled closed period update of trading for the first six months of 2024, together with updated guidance for 2024 as a whole.\n \nHighlights of expected first half performance\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nRevenue: Around £2.4bn, in line with expectations.\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nUnderlying operating profit: Ahead of plan at approximately £140m, with progress in improving productivity and the underlying performance of our portfolio delivering a margin of around 5.8%.\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nShare buyback: ~£60m of £140m share buyback programme expected to be completed by the end of June.\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nStrong financial position: Adjusted net debt expected to be around £135m, leverage approximately 0.6x net debt to EBITDA.\n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nUpgraded guidance for 2024: Underlying operating profit guidance increased by £10m, or 4%, to £270m, and we now expect free cash flow will be better and financial leverage lower than prior guidance.\n\n\n\n\n \nCommenting on today's update, Mark Irwin, Serco Group Chief Executive, said:\n \n\"We have delivered a good performance in the first half, with progress in improving productivity and the underlying performance of our portfolio allowing us to increase our profit guidance for the full year by £10m, or 4%. We now expect underlying operating profit of approximately £270m, 9% higher than 2023, with margins increasing by around 50 basis points.\n \nWe continue to explore new ways to bring together the right people, the right technology and the right partners to help governments around the world respond to the complex and difficult challenges they face. As we enter the second six months of the year, while mindful of a potential impact internationally from elections in 2024, we remain optimistic about the quality of our pipeline of potential new work to support our medium-term growth targets.\"\n \nExpected outcome for the first half of 2024 and guidance for the full year\n \nRevenue: Group revenue is in line with expectations at around £2.4bn, which is 4% lower than the £2.5bn reported in the first half of 2023...