Serco Group PLC (LON:SRP) shares plunged after the outsourcer announced it was backing away from its bid for a number of Middle East rail contracts worth £2.5bn.
The company said the tendering process for the rail opportunities was taking much longer than expected so it has decided to stand down its bidding teams and redirect efforts elsewhere.
“Together, these bids represented an aggregate £2.5bn of the £7.9bn pipeline of larger new bid opportunities as disclosed at the time of reporting Serco's half year results, and, unless the situation were to change, these bids will no longer be part of the next pipeline update that will be reported within our full year results,” the group stated.
Shares dropped 6.61% to 100.30p.