G4S revenue up 9% in first quarter

Integrated security company G4S reported a 9% jump in revenue for the first quarter and said it saw a strong start to the year.

In the three months to the end of March, revenues from the group's continuing businesses were 8.9% higher than the first quarter last year.

"Trends continued from 2016, with double-digit organic growth in developed markets and revenues broadly unchanged in emerging markets. New contract wins and the pipeline provide confidence in the group's expectation of average revenue growth in the range of 4-6% per annum," said chief executive Ashley Almanza.

G4S said that as part of the established portfolio programme, it realised $56.5m in the quarter from the sale of the Youth Services business in the US. It added that its business plan and current performance continue to support a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 2.5x or lower by the end of this year.

The company is due to release its results for the six months to 30 June 2017 on 9 August.

At 0805 BST, the shares were up 3.5% to 325.50p.