Outsourcing trio posts upbeat figures as market projections rise

Capita, Capgemi and Atos all enjoy strong first half of 2013

A trio of big outsourcers has posted upbeat results for the first half of the year as market watchers predict solid growth for the UK business process services (BPS) arena in the coming years.

Capita's H1 figures show revenue up 13 per cent annually to £1.8bn, with underlying pre-tax profit spiking 10 per cent to £205.2m. Some £2bn worth of major contracts were tied up during 2013's first six months, compared with £1.1bn in the corresponding period last year.

Rival Atos saw a slight year-on-year dip in H1 revenue, which came in at just under €4.3bn (£3.7bn). But operating profit leapt 14.5 per cent to €279m as margins increased from 5.6 to 6.5 per cent.

There was a similar story at services titan Capgemini, which saw turnover decline 2.3 per cent annually to a little more than €5bn. But net margins rose from 2.6 per cent last year to 3.5 per cent this time out, resulting in profits growing 31 per cent to €176m.

Writing in TechMarketView's UKHotViews newsletter, research director John O'Brien reveals that the analyst is forecasting compound annual growth of 6.9 per cent for the UK BPS space between 2012 and 2016. This compares with a compounded figure of 6.1 per cent for the 2011-15 forecast.

O'Brien adds: "We expect to see double-digit growth rates from platform BPO (business process outsourcing) and significantly higher growth from emerging business-process-as-a-service (BPaaS) as organisations seek more industrialised and automated alternatives to straight lift and shift."