G4S shares are skyrocketing
Shares in FTSE 250 security company G4S rose more than 6.5% on Monday as it announced a great start to the year in a quarterly report.
Revenues rose 4.5% to £1.5 billion ($2.16 billion) in the three months to 31 March 2016.
The company had new contract sales with a total value of £2.4 billion ($3.45 billion) and contract retention rates of around 90%. Meanwhile, earnings were up 14.1% to £227 million ($327 million).
Here's the G4S share price as of 9:35 AM GMT:
Against a background of economic uncertainty, demand for our services has remained resilient and revenues grew in all regions apart from the UK. In emerging markets our revenues grew by 8.6% and in North America our revenues rose by 5.8%. Our revenues in UK & Ireland were 3% lower and in Europe our businesses returned to growth with revenues up by 3% year-on-year.
The good news has been a long time coming for G4S. The company's share price has fallen 34.5% over the last 12 months, against just a 6.5% fall in the FTSE 250, according to the Financial Times.
Much of the troble stemmed from a scandal two years ago, in which the company had to repay £108.9 million plus tax for overcharging on contracts to tag offenders, hurting its reputation. G4S has also been dogged by accusations of poor conditions in its detention centres.
In January this year, the company came under further fire for allegedly painting asylum seekers' front doors red in a bid to identify them.