G4S shares jump as it puts the criminal tagging scandal behind it
G4S, which was fined £108.9 million ($164 million) in 2013 by the UK Treasury after it found that the security group overcharged the government for providing electronic tagging services for criminals that were either dead or back in prison, confirmed in its 2014 results statement that it raked in £148 million in pretax profits.
In 2013, it made a loss of £190 million, following writedowns related to the scandal.
"The group made good progress with its strategic plan, delivering commercial, operational and financial progress during 2014," said Ashley Almanza, CEO at G4S in a statement.
"This is reflected in a 7.9% increase in underlying PBITA (profits before tax) and a 11.7% increase in underlying earnings and a 25% increase in cash flow from the group's operating businesses. The group's progress and prospects are reflected in the board's recommendation to increase the final dividend by 5%. There remains much to be done to realise the full potential of our strategy and we expect to make further progress in 2015."
Investors seem to be happy with the group's progress. G4S shares shot up 2% on the market open. The G4S stock price is now nearly 22% up over the last year.
