G4S Security Firm's Share Price Falls Over Olympic Staff Shortages

G4S Suffer Steep Fall In Share Prices After Olympic Debacle

Beleaguered security firm G4S suffered further share price falls today amid fears that the Olympics debacle will damage its reputation.

Its shares fell 3% on top of similar falls yesterday, meaning more than £200 million has been wiped off its value since the staffing problems emerged.

Any hit to revenues from the estimated £284 million Olympic contract is not expected to "significantly" hit the company's revenues or profits.

The security firm has seen a sharp fall in it's share prices

But worries that the group's reputation has been tarnished were fuelled after a senior politician accused the group of letting the country down and Surrey Police suspended privatisation plans for some of its services following the embarrassment.

Meanwhile, there are fears that chief executive Nick Buckles, who will be hauled before MPs next week, will be forced out.

He survived the collapse of a £5.2 billion takeover deal for Danish cleaning giant ISS last year after a shareholder rebellion scuppered the move, but the latest debacle has put his position under renewed pressure.

Seymour Pierce analyst Caroline de La Soujeole said: "In terms of numbers, the Olympics won't make much difference to people's full-year forecasts. Financially, it's nothing significant.

"People are not worried about numbers but about impact on reputation, which is hard to quantify.

"Potentially, there's a danger it could lose further contracts. And there is the question is that the end for Nick Buckles?"

G4S's revenues hit £7.5 billion last year, while underlying profits grew 2% to £531 million and analysts said any shortfall from the Olympics contract would not hurt the company.

Ms de La Soujeole believes the company's growth prospects remain strong because it is set to benefit from the public sector's austerity drive as more authorities look to outsource work.

Last year, for example, G4S started running Birmingham prison, and a contract to run Oakwood prison in Wolverhampton started in April.

And G4S won a ground-breaking £200 million contract to design and run a station for Lincolnshire Police, including running cells, administering drug tests and managing the force's vehicle fleet.

Ms de La Soujeole said: "The Government has to cut costs, which it will do by outsourcing, and G4S is a key player in that market.

"There are not that many players out there with the scale of G4S to run things like prisons.

"Once the dust has settled it should be business as usual."

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