Capita holds steady despite encouraging start and CLCH contract win

After an "encouraging start" to the year, business outsourcing group Capita said had won £1.2bn of new contracts and remained on track to hit full year targets.

The group also announced it had been selected as preferred bidder to provide IT, human resources and facilities management services to the Central London Community Health Trust, a contract that is expected to be worth £80m over 10 years.

Capita, which has spent a net £215m on seven acquisitions since the start of the year, said it was pleased with the initial performance of German call centres business Avocis, the largest of its deals to date.

Shares in the company initially dipped, perhaps as despite the positive tone and the recent acquisitions, management only reiterated its outlook for "low double digit revenue growth" for the full year.

Some detail was supplied on some of the smaller acquisitions, including Scholand & Beiling, another call centre business that, like Avocis, operates in the 'DACH' region of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Another is Constructionline, a database bought from the UK government for the pre-qualification of contractors, consultants and building material suppliers.

It has also spent £22m to acquire four smaller bolt-on companies since February's full year results, adding combined annual revenue of £35m.

The four are Voice Marketing, an outbound customer management business; Sigma Seven, a provider of mobile field worker software; ThirtyThree, a communications and digital media specialist to complement the group's recruitment offering; and BCS, a designer of civil and structural engineering projects.

Capita said it remained "on track to meet consensus expectations in 2015, supported by contract wins and acquisitions announced in the year to date and the full year benefit from those completed in 2014".

"The market for customer services and business process management is large, remains active and provides a good platform for growth in the UK and increasingly Northern Europe over the medium to long term," it added.