Death of cash killing off security guards

SECuRITY firm G4S is battling against the decline of cash.

The business transports, processes and secures cash for businesses and banks around the world but is at risk from the growing use of plastic in developed markets.

In short, that means there are fewer services for security guards.

G4S bosses said: ‘ To ensure critical mass and economies of scale, we focus on markets where we have, or can build, a number one or number two position in the market.’

The company has a growing ‘cash technology’ arm which runs services – such as smart safes – to help large retailers process their payments more quickly.

It believes that profits from that arm may soon overtake its traditional cash business.

Its cash processing facilities are now installed in more than 21,500 locations around the world, a 10pc increase. Sales from the cash business fell 13.4pc from £ 647m to £ 560m during the half-year.

Overall, G4S profits fell 36pc from £219m to £139m during the six months to June 30. Sales fell 7.5pc to £3.7bn.

Last year’s figures were bumped up on the back of sales of parts of the business, including in Israel and Bulgaria, which netted around £68m.

With one-off costs and income stripped out, pretax profits fell from £163m to £158m.

Bosses have spent £28m over the past two years on restructuring and expect to spend up to another £16m before the year is out.

They are trying to cut out costs to save up to £100m by 2020 and say savings will begin contributing to profits by the second half of the year.

Chief executive Ashley Almanza said: ‘Our contract wins and strong retention rate in the first half of 2018 provide good revenue momentum.’