Slowing growth hits security firm

SHARES in G4S fell yesterday, despite the global security giant reporting a rise in halfyear sales and profits.

The FTSE 100 firm’s stock was the biggest faller on the index, ending the day 7.5pc down, or 24.7p, at 305.9p.

The group reported a 16.7pc rise in pre-tax profits to £237m in the six months to June 30, while revenue rose 12.5pc to £3.97bn. Analysts put the share price fall down to slowing growth in the second quarter.

Kean Marden, equity analyst at Jefferies, said: ‘Although not explicitly disclosed by the company, we calculate a circa 3.5pc organic revenue growth rate in Q2, which is a sharp deceleration on Q1 (8.9pc) and well below our 7pc estimate, primarily due to emerging markets.’