G4S gets Stateside boost as it eyes Trump windfall

Security colossus G4S today said its turnaround has been aided by booming business in the US, now its largest market for the first time in its 117-year history.

G4S is set to benefit further from President Donald Trump’s $54 billion (£44 billion) injection in defence spending.

But boss Ashley Almanza admitted, “I’ve not had a call yet. [Trump] has lots more important people to meet than me.”

The world’s largest security firm, wounded by a string of scandals including London Olympic failures and charging the Government to tag criminals who were dead, saw pre-tax profits rise 14% to £352 million last year.

The shares shot up 7%, or 17.8p, to 285.2p.

The profits jump was mainly thanks to G4S’s contracts in North America, which include 600 staff working on the US-Mexico border returning illegal immigrants to Mexico and protecting US Army bases.

Revenues in the region surged 12.4% to £1.8 billion.

“The US is now our biggest market by some distance,” said Almanza, who replaced Nick Buckles as chief executive four years ago following the Olympics fiasco.

“In the UK, central government contracts now make up only 5% of G4S’s revenues.

Trump’s pledge to spend record figures on defence is seen as good news for G4S, although cautious Almanza said: “What we see is an administration that appears to be signalling a business-friendly agenda.

“We haven’t seen the policy yet, but if that does materialise it will be good for us.”