G4S FY19 Pre-tax Profit Down 81%, Revenues Rise - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - G4S plc (GFSZY.PK, GFS.L) reported Wednesday that its profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2019 was 27 million pounds, down 81 percent from 142 million pounds in the prior year. Loss per share from continuing operations was 5.9 pence, compared to earnings per share from continuing operations of 5.1 pence last year.

The Group noted that its statutory earnings include a goodwill impairment charge of 291 million pounds.

Underlying adjusted profit before interest, tax and amortisation was 501 million pounds, in line with the prior year.

The Group said this reflects a reduction in Adjusted PBITA of 7 million pounds in Secure Solutions and an increase in Adjusted PBITA in Cash Solutions of 5 million pounds, which reflected an 8 million pounds one-off benefit in 2018 relating to the early completion of a bullion centre contract in the UK.

However, revenue for the year rose 3.4 percent to 7.76 billion pounds from 7.51 billion pounds in the prior year. Underlying revenue increased by 4.7 percent year-on-year to 7.67 billion pounds.

Secure Solutions revenues were 4.7 percent higher than the prior year. Cash Solutions revenue increased by 4.6 percent following a strong performance in North America Retail Cash Solutions offset by challenging market conditions in the UK.

Looking ahead, G4S CEO Ashley Almanza said, "We will continue to closely monitor the development and impact of the coronavirus and take mitigating actions, as required. The long-term, fundamental strength of the global security market, together with the competitive strength of our Secure Solutions and Retail Technology Solutions businesses, underpins our confidence in the outlook for the Group."

The company's board has decided to maintain the total dividend for the year ended 31 December 2019 and will propose a final dividend of 6.11 pence per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 9.7 pence per share, in line with the prior year.