This time last year shares in G4S were 300p, surpassing their level of 2012, the calamity year in which the firm failed to supply enough security guards to the London Olympics. Ashley Almanza, the chief executive recruited to bring order to the sprawling empire built by predecessor Nick Buckles, seemed to be halfway to success.
Hed put some muscle into the balance sheet with an early rights issue £350m in 2013 and the rest of the job seemed to be a decluttering exercise to restore G4S to its security roots. Buckless disjointed vision of G4S as a jack-of-all-trades outsourcer would soon be forgotten.
The picture looks very different now. The share price stands at 187p, down 12% on Wednesday; G4S is out of the FTSE 100 index; and the…
Read the full article at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2016/mar/09/g4s-long-way-from-home