The underlying picture at security group G4S (LON:GFS) was a reasonably reassuring one with first-half revenues and profits ahead (albeit marginally) and in line with forecasts.
The ‘actual’, unvarnished numbers, however, made grimmer reading, and were riddled with one offs, including a £21mln in goodwill impairments and a £16mln restructuring charges.
In all, these ‘negatives’ added up to more than £70mln and dragged operating profit down to £124mln from £141mln a year ago. G4S quotes a figure it describes as ‘profit for the period’, which fell to £45mln from £80mln previously.
The underlying picture, free of the pesky one-off charges and costs, painted a far rosier picture.
Turnover advanced 2.8% to £3.3bn in the six months to June 30, while profit before interest and tax was up 4.9% at £193mln.
The company generated £195mln in cash, but has debts of £1.67bn and paid out £54mln in “net finance expenses” in the period.
The dividend, which has been increased by 5% to 3.59p, will cost G4S another £54mln.
Understandably, chief executive Ashley Almanza was keen to concentrate on the positives in his comments as he pointed to £1.4bn of new contracts won during the period.
“We continue to make good progress with our strategic plans, investing in growth and productivity programmes which underpinned strong growth in our pipeline and a 10.5% increase in underlying earnings,” he added.
Almanza was brought in to steady the ship after a rocky period at G4S, the world’s largest security firm employing more than 600,000 worldwide.
It has contracts with the Pentagon and to guard Baghdad Airport, although it will be remembered more for its involvement with the electronic tagging scandal and its failure to provide enough security for the London Olympics.