Serco Group PLC - Hampshire, England-based outsourcer said - Confirms share buyback programme of up to £140 million, as previously announced on Thursday last week. Appoints Barclays Capital Securities Ltd and JP Morgan Securities PLC to execute the programme. This will begin with, starting today, purchasing up to £70 million in Serco by no later than August 5. Following this, JP Morgan Securities will conduct the rest of the programme without Barclays Capital, ending no later than December 31. The number of shares repurchased shall not exceed 115.6 million, Serco says.

Serco first announced the share buyback programme alongside reporting a jump in profit. Pretax profit rose 26% to £247.0 million in 2023 from £196.8 million a year prior. Revenue climbed 7.5% to £4.87 billion from £4.53 billion. Cost of sales increased 8.4% to £4.38 billion from £4.04 billion. Serco reported a gain from exceptional operating items of £53.8 million, compared to a loss of £2.4 million in 2022. The company declared a final dividend per share of 2.27 pence, up 18% from 1.92p. This brings the total dividend to 3.41p per share, up 19% from 2.86p.

Current stock price: 185.40 pence, down 0.4%

12-month change: up 15%

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