British security services company G4S may face another barrage of criticism over last year's London Olympics debacle when it releases its 2012 results on Wednesday.

G4S landed itself in hot water after the company had to call in soldiers on leave as it failed to hire enough security guards as part of its Olympic contract.

Last month it admitted the total cost of the shambles amounted to £38m more than the £50m it expected.

"G4S has faced a series of setbacks in the UK, with the mishandled Olympics contract followed by a failure to secure recent high profile prisons and police opportunities," Investec said last month.

However, the broker said it believed concerns were overdone and that the group was poised to benefit from a greater flow of programmes in 2013.

The analyst raised its rating on the stock from 'hold' to 'buy' in February and increased its target price from 280p to 330p.

Revenues are expected to rise £8.0bn, up from £7.5bn a year earlier, while pre-tax profit is pegged to drop to £423m from £435m.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is also expected to fall to £540m from £546m.

"[Last year] proved to be an annus horribilis for G4S, with the Olympics scandal dominating investor attention," Investec added.

"Though the valuation discount has started to unwind, we believe there is more to come in 2013."


Wednesday March 13

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