Serco Group PLC (LON;SRP) said it is on track to hit its guidance for the half-year, with debt to be slightly lower than expected.
Revenue will be around £2.2bn in the six months to end June 2021 or 19% higher than the £1.8bn reported in the first half of 2020.
Serco runs sites and organises contact follow-ups for the UK government’s heavily criticised Covid-19 test & trace service and £340m of the interim revenue will be related to coronavirus work compared to £80m in the prior year.
Without the Covid-19 work, sales were up by about 8%.
Underlying trading profit will be 50% higher than a year ago at between £120-125mln, said the statement, while orders during the half totalled £3.8bn.
For the full year, Serco left its numbers largely unchanged at revenues of £4.3bn and underlying trading profit of £200mln.
Rupert Soames, chief executive, said: “Our [interim] order intake will be at record levels at almost £4bn, including large new contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence, the Department of Work & Pensions and the Royal Canadian Airforce.
“Profits will be weighted to the first half, and will include contributions from the WBB and FFA acquisitions, which will enable us to absorb the impact of the end of the AWE contract, the mobilisation costs of the recently-signed DWP contract and an expected reduction in Covid-19 related activities.”