G4S Chief Executive Officer Ashley Almanza commented:

“The Group delivered underlying revenue of £7.7 billion in 2019, an increase of 4.7%, which reflects our continued investment in developing and marketing integrated, technology-enabled solutions. Adjusted PBITA was in line with the prior year reflecting this investment. Lower interest costs offset by a higher tax rate meant that earnings rose by 0.8% whilst a strong focus on cash generation saw operating cash flow increase by 9% to £633 million.”

“The sale of the majority of the Group’s conventional cash business in February 2020 is a major milestone in the execution of our corporate strategy, greatly enhancing our strategic, commercial and operational focus and strengthening our financial position. The proceeds from the sale of the conventional cash business enable us to invest in the business, to reduce net debt and to target net debt to EBITDA of 2.0x – 2.5x over time.”

“Our clear aim now is to capitalise on this focus to strengthen our position as the industry leading global security company. Our investment in technology solutions is delivering clear benefits to our customers and has driven growth in key markets. We plan to deepen and extend these capabilities in order to support our goal of accelerating profitable growth.”

Operational and financial highlights (Underlying results^a unless otherwise noted):

• Group revenue growth +4.7% (2018: +1.0%^c) including organic ^b +4.2% (2018: +1.0%^c)
  - Secure Solutions revenue growth +4.7% (2018: +2.9%^c)
  - Retail Technology Solutions +18.0%
• Conventional cash +1.0%
• PBITA in line with prior year; reflecting investment in sales, marketing and integrated technology solutions
• Operating cash flow £633 million (2018: £582 million) representing cash conversion^a of 126% (2018: 118%^c)
• Net debt to EBITDA^e 2.88x (2018: 2.75x^c); Proforma post disposal: 2.36x^g
• Final dividend: 6.11p per share (2018: 6.11p per share)
• Statutory loss of £91 million (2018: earnings of £81 million^c) reflecting a £291 million charge for goodwill impairment (2018: £nil), mainly relating to UK Cash Solutions, £19 million restructuring (2018: £30 million) and £38 million Cash separation costs (2018: £nil)
• Cash business disposal proceeds of c£670 million and profit on sale c£300 million will be accounted for in 2020
• Streamlined organisation facilitates incremental cost efficiencies of £15-20 million through 2020-21 

Group results

^{a Underlying results are Alternative Performance Measures as defined and explained on page 40 and include the results of the businesses subject to the conventional cash disposal. Underlying results are reconciled to statutory results on page 3. The underlying results are presented at constant exchange rates other than operating cash flow, which is presented at actual rates in both 2018 and 2019.
b Organic revenue growth is an Alternative Performance Measure as defined and explained on page 41.
c Restated for the adoption of IFRS16 – Leases, see note 3.
d Statutory results reflect the entire Group including the results of the businesses subject to the conventional cash disposal. See page 23 for the basis of preparation of statutory results.
e Adjusted PBITA and net debt to adjusted EBITDA are Alternative Performance Measures as defined and explained on page 41. The Net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio is calculated as set out on page 43.
f Earnings/loss is defined as profit/loss attributable to equity shareholders of G4S plc. Underlying earnings and underlying earnings per share (“EPS”) are adjusted to exclude specific and other separately disclosed items, as described on page 41, and are reconciled to statutory earnings/loss and EPS on page 3.
g Proforma net debt to EBITDA is calculated as set out on page 7.} 

Re-shaping the Group

In parallel with demerger preparations, over the last year G4S has conducted a thorough and comprehensive engagement with third parties interested in the Group’s Cash Solutions businesses, which culminated, on 26 February 2020, in the sale of the majority of the Group’s conventional cash businesses to The Brink’s Company. The Board determined that the sale of the majority of the conventional cash businesses is superior to the demerger of the Group’s Cash Solutions businesses and is in the best interests of G4S shareholders and other key stakeholders.

The transaction represents an important milestone in the execution of our corporate strategy. The sale of these capital intensive, conventional cash businesses enables G4S to focus on the growth of our core integrated security solutions business and the further development of our rapidly growing Retail Technology Solutions business whilst providing an opportunity to simplify and streamline the Group which create the opportunity to capture cost efficiencies. 

Our Go Forward Business

The shape of the group post the sale of the majority of the conventional cash businesses (pro-forma 2019) is summarised below:

^{a Technology enabled security solutions of 47% combines elements of Secure Solutions and Secure Consulting & Technology.
b Includes Retail Cash Solutions, SA- Deposita.
c  Adjusted PBITA margin before corporate cost allocations.}

G4S is a global market leader in security, providing both established and new technology-enabled security solutions to customers around the world.

Security is a growing service industry and we believe that G4S has the expertise and global footprint to grow core security revenues (81% of Group revenues) at 4-6% per annum and generate margins of 5-6% (excluding Security Consulting and Technology). As a result of our investment in technology we are deriving an increasing proportion of revenues from technology enabled solutions and at the end of December 2019, around 47% (2018: 45%) of our Secure Solutions revenues included technology in the customer service. Our technology-enabled security solutions includes our Secure Consulting and Technology business (11% of the Group) where we are targeting revenue growth of 10-12% per annum and margins in the range of 8-15%. Our technology focus creates additional security and efficiency benefits for customers and increases our ability to differentiate G4S’s offering in the security market, which in turn supports our goal of accelerating profitable growth.

G4S has retained certain businesses from the Cash Division where we believe we can maximise shareholder value by benefiting from significant growth opportunities driven by our industry-leading position in Retail Technology Solutions. Our Retail Technology Solutions businesses are expected to grow very strongly at 14-16% per annum and generate margins of c15%.  In addition, G4S has retained a number of conventional cash businesses, including the UK business.

Dividend policy

Following the conventional cash sale, the Board has reviewed the Group’s dividend policy. The Board has decided to maintain the total dividend for the year ended 31 December 2019 and will propose a final dividend of 6.11p per share bringing the total dividend for the year to 9.7p per share in line with the prior year. This represents underlying dividend cover of 1.75x based on 2019 earnings per share. Going forward the Board believes that the Group should maintain the dividend at the current level and rebuild dividend cover to 2x. Once this level of cover is reached, the Board intends to adopt a progressive dividend policy taking into account a range of factors including the progress of the global economy, the performance of the business as measured by underlying earnings and cash flow, the requirements for capital within the business and the expected performance of the business going forward.

Outlook

G4S Group Chief Executive Officer, Ashley Almanza, commented:

“Whilst there is clearly near-term uncertainty about the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy, the effect on the Group has, to date, been immaterial. We will continue to closely monitor the development and impact of the coronavirus and take mitigating actions, as required. The long-term, fundamental strength of the global security market, together with the competitive strength of our Secure Solutions and Retail Technology Solutions businesses, underpins our confidence in the outlook for the Group.”

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