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Business Process Outsourcer (BPO) Serco has had a good run of things over the last few years, significantly benefiting from Covid related contracts that raised revenue between 2019 (the last year without any Covid-related work) and 2022 by c.40%, and almost doubled Underlying Trading Profit (UTP) from £120m to £237m.
Serco was one of the UK’s biggest beneficiaries from Covid related work, which was always going to ‘punch a big hole’ in its P&L once the pandemic and associated Government spending wound down (see Covid cliff edge looms for Serco). Add to this the ending of its large AWE contract, and Serco has had to replace some £480m of revenues and over £60m of contract profits – no small feat. Given the scale of the challenge, a broadly flat year for 2022 should not be seen as a disappointment with revenue ex-Covid and currency up 11%.
Headline financials for FY 2022 saw Serco grow revenue by 2% to £4.53bn (FY 2021 £4.42bn) although this translates into a -1% decline when put in constant currency. Underlying Trading Profit was up 4% last year to £237m (FY 2021 £228.9m), although declined -3% in constant currency (this translates to a margin of 5.2% pretty typical of the works often ‘blue collar’ nature). Given that three-quarters of the Group’s UTP was derived from outside the UK it demonstrates the value of Serco’s decision to pivot towards international markets (particularly the US), taken a few years ago.
Serco now moves forward under the leadership of new CEO Mark Irwin who officially took over from Rupert Soames at the beginning of this year (see Serco CEO to retire). Soames had led a successful nine-year stabilisation and turnaround of the business that was impressively effective. Whilst the business is not expected to grow in 2023 – with revenue guidance of £4.6bn, UTP of c.£235m and organic revenue growth of 0% - Serco is targeting average annual growth of between 4-6% over the medium term.
TechMarketView clients, including subscribers to UKHotViewsPremium, can read more by downloading the full review of Serco’s FY results here *UKHotViewsExtra* Serco flat as it moves forward under new leadership.
If you are not already a subscriber and but would like to learn more or gain access to this or any other of our content, please contact Deb Seth for more information.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '09:11' - Tagged: results
There are just two more days to go in February’s Future Steps challenge in aid of The Prince’s Trust, and our two TechMarketView teams have racked up over 3 million steps between them. It's been a challenge for each of us to achieve the requisite 10k steps a day (or more), but we’ve had fun competing with the other teams and it’s definitely helped us to become less sedentary!
We’d still like to raise more for the charity though - we are currently £200 short of our fundraising target; can you help us reach it?
To support team TMV Stepaholics visit: bit.ly/3HPfjqd (Tania Wilson, Georgina O'Toole, Kate Hanaghan, Marc Hardwick, Dale Peters)
To support team TMV Striders visit: bit.ly/3jGxNRV (Belinda Tewson, Tola Sargeant, Holly Pressly, Rebecca Johnson, Helen McTeer)
As many UKHotViews readers will know, TechMarketView is proud to support The Prince’s Trust as a member of its Technology Leadership Group. We’ve seen first-hand what a fantastic job the charity does of helping young people from disadvantaged communities and those facing the greatest adversity by supporting them to build the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn.
Thank you so much for your continued support too.
Posted by TMV Team at '09:05'
Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the UK software and IT services (SITS) sector held steady during Q4 2022 but remained considerably lower than in Q1 and Q2 of that year. This is according to data from Silverpeak, the mid-market technology specialists that represent European growth businesses in M&A and financing transactions.
There were 96 acquisitions by and 109 sales of UK SITS companies in Q4, compared to 91 and 115 respectively in Q3. This data includes deals announced, as well as those closed.
However, although H2 2022 represents a significant drop in UK SITS deal count compared to H1 of that year, 2022 overall was still the second-best year in recent times on that basis and well above pre-pandemic norms.
Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service and UKHotViews Premium can read more by downloading the Q4 2022 edition of IndustryViews Corporate Activity.
Posted by Tania Wilson at '07:00' - Tagged: acquisition M&A
The UK wealth management sector is continuing to experience significant change as demographic shifts and increased competition are fuelling the demand for technology-based propositions. An appetite for automation, the evolving face of investment advice, new asset classes and disruptive innovation are among the key elements in the mix.
UK Wealth Management SITS - Assessing the Opportunities details TechMarketView's latest forecasts for SITS spend and growth and explores the business and technology trends influencing buying decisions within the sector. The report highlights some of the most interesting recent technology-related developments, and examines the key areas of opportunity for SITS vendors.
Subscribers to FinancialServicesViews can download this research now. If you do not already have access and are interested to learn more, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Jon C Davies at '07:00' - Tagged: wealthmanagement financial+services
Today is your last chance to apply for the opportunity to partner with Capita, the FTSE-listed leading tech-enabled business services company.
If you are a startup or a scaleup and you have a digital solution suitable for the public sector, please submit your application by close of play TODAY, Friday 24th February.
Through its Scaling Partner corporate venture unit, Capita is already helping several startups and scaleups get a leg-up in the market through hands-on sales and marketing support and meaningful introductions into its 9,000-strong client base. Capita has skin in the game and their success depends on yours!
You can find more information by clicking on the image, or you can fill in the application form directly by clicking here.
You really have nothing to lose by applying – and much to gain if your application is successful, so APPLY NOW!
Posted by HotViews Editor at '06:00'
If you are a startup or a scaleup and you have a digital solution suitable for the public sector, then you only have until close of business TOMORROW, Friday 24th February, to submit your application to be considered for a partnership with Capita, the FTSE-listed leading tech-enabled business services company.
At the end of December 2022, we reviewed our market outlook and updated our UK Software and IT Services (SITS) market growth estimates. Our ’Market Outlook Update: Trends and Forecasts 2022-2025’ covered the entire UK SITS market. Today, we dig deeper into the data with the publication of our market outlook update for UK Public Sector SITS, which is available to download now.
In July 2022, we issued our forecasts for the size of the UK Public Sector SITS market between 2022 and 2025. At the time there were significant uncertainties about the impact of the gathering economic headwinds coming off the back of a significant uplift in public sector SITS expenditure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As 2022 progressed, it became clear that market momentum was proving resilient, but that the public sector was not immune from the pressures created by skills shortages, energy costs and inflation. We have continued to monitor closely the financial performances of the UK operations of the Top 60 SITS vendors in the market, public sector contract awards, and wider economic forecasts and have now revised our UK Public Sector SITS market forecasts.
As well as updating our market outlook, this report also provides our predictions about how the use of technology in the public sector will evolve in 2023 and beyond. At the end of 2022, we published ‘Predictions 2023: Tech Opportunities in an Economic Downturn’, outlining TechMarketView’s predictions for the UK SITS market in 2023. In today’s report we drill down further and present our predictions for the use of technology in each of the six public sector subsectors we track (Central Government, Local & Regional Government, Defence, Health, Education and Police) and the role SITS will play in the pursuit of productivity in the public sector.
PublicSectorViews suppliers can find out the size of the UK Public Sector SITS market in 2022, its growth between 2022 and 2025, and our predictions for the use of technology in the sector during 2023 and beyond by downloading UK Public Sector SITS - Market Outlook Update & Predictions today.
If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Deb Seth to find out more.
Posted by Dale Peters at '09:28' - Tagged: predictions forecasts market+trends public+sector
If you are a startup or a scaleup and you have a digital solution suitable for the public sector, then you only have until close of business this Friday 24th February to submit your application to be considered for a partnership with Capita, the FTSE-listed leading tech-enabled business services company.
Tech-focused business services market leader Capita has an impressive track record boosting growth and enhancing valuations of its partners; here’s another example.
Within just 18 months of partnering with Capita, cloud-based adaptive learning startup Obrizum saw ARR grow 15 times as well as winning a deal with the UK’s largest corporate leaning provider.
If you are a startup or a scaleup and you have a digital solution suitable for the public sector, just click on the pic to hear TechMarketView Managing Partner tell you all you need to know in 30 seconds and then click here to find out how to apply – it only takes just a few minutes.
There's not much time left to apply - and this really is too good an opportunity to pass up!
Applications close Friday 24th February.
After a rough ride in 2022, January offered a positive start to 2023 for tech investors. The Nasdaq was up 10.7% month-on-month (MoM) and the FTSE Software and Computer Services (SCS) index, which most closely tracks the stocks that we in TechMarketView focus on, finished up 7.1% MoM. Indeed, all of the specialist UK tech indices finished up on the prior month.
Broader UK indices were also up. The FTSE 100 has consistently outperformed in recent months and finished 4.3% MoM. But with around 75% of its revenues derived from overseas sales, it doesn't particularly reflect the strength (or otherwise) of the UK economy. Arguably a better measure of that is the mid-cap FTSE 250, which finished 5.3% up MoM - hopefully a sign of increasing investor confidence in UK plc.
But despite the cheer in January, the volatility which characterised 2022 has returned in February, with investors again playing a guessing game over how the Federal Reserve will respond to US macroeconomic data. The answer on 1 February was an interest rate increase of just 0.25%, the lowest since Spring 2022, which sent tech stocks soaring. Those gains were tempered in the days that followed by higher-than-expected inflation data for January and signs that the jobs market remains hot - a perfect recipe for further volatility in the months ahead.
Already general themes are emerging in company performance, with cloud, hardware and advertising and e-commerce all feeling the pinch as wary customers rein in expenditure.
But the hype around OpenAI's ChatGPT suggests we may not have long to wait for the next tech boom, as Generative AI becomes the buzzword of the moment.
UKHotViews Premium readers can read more on the markets so far in 2023 and what may yet be in store in Tech Investors buckle up for a bumpy 2023. And if you would like to discuss subscription options, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Tania Wilson at '12:08' - Tagged: markets macro
Endava’s sprightly start to FY23 continued through the second quarter. Revenue at UK-HQ’d digital SI for the three months ended increased by 23.4% yoy at constant currency to £205.2m, all but reaching the level of the firm’s annual turnover just five years ago. Adjusted profit before tax for the period rose by 27% yoy to £41.9m with the associated margin improving sequentially by 30 bps.
Double-digit expansion was again achieved by all facets of Endava’s industry segment and regional portfolio. From a sector perspective, demand from the firm’s payments and financial services clients continued to prove robust in the most recently completed quarter with sales up by some 35% yoy to account for 53% of total revenue. In terms of geographic growth, the company’s operations in Asia-Pacific delivered the strongest top line growth performance in Q2. Turnover in this unit more than doubled yoy to over £10m, boosted by the acquisition of Melbourne-based Lexicon Digital Pty Ltd at the start of the period. Endava UK, which generates around two fifths of global revenue, kept pace with the overall business by delivering a 23% yoy increase in second quarter sales to c.£80m.
Looking ahead, Endava is anticipating a slight deceleration in the pace of expansion. At constant currency, Q3 revenue is expected to improve by between 14.0% and 15.0% yoy to land with the £201-203m range. Top line growth in FY23 is now projected to reach between 19.0% and 20.0%.
We recently caught up with Endava CEO, John Cotterell. All TechMarketView subscription clients, including UKHotViews Premium subscribers, can read more about this company’s performance and plans here: Endava delivers its first £200+m quarter.
Posted by Duncan Aitchison at '08:41' - Tagged: results systemsintegration digital
Just over two years since US financial services giant, JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) went public with its plans for a major push into the UK retail banking space, the project appears to be going extremely well (from a customer acquisition standpoint at least). Unlike the established major bank brands in the UK, rather than having its cosy monopoly disrupted by technology-based newcomers JPMC was early to embrace the once-in-a-generation technology shift that is occurring and has itself already emerged as an eminently tech-savvy disruptor.
TechMarketView clients can learn more by downloading The Chase is on as JPMC's UK push gains pace. This UKHotViews Extra discusses the impact that the Chase digital bank is having on the competitive landscape of UK retail banking and considers what the future holds for this newcomer and its rivals.
If you are not already a subscriber and would like access to this or any other of our output, please contact Deb Seth for more information.
Posted by Jon C Davies at '07:00' - Tagged: banking
Tech-focused business services market leader Capita has an impressive track record boosting growth and enhancing valuations of its partners; here’s just one example.
A couple of years ago Capita partnered with developer marketplace Distributed. Since then, Distributed’s revenues have increased 26 times and their platform is being integrated into Capita’s multimillion-pound public sector bids.
If you are a startup or a scaleup and you have a digital solution for the public sector, just click on the pic to hear TechMarketView Managing Partner tell you all you need to know in 30 seconds and then click here to find out how to apply – it only takes just a few minutes.
This really is too good an opportunity to pass up!
There’s only two weeks left for startups and scaleups with digital solutions that help transform and automate UK public sector to apply for the chance to partner with Capita.
This is an outstanding opportunity for young UK tech companies to march hand-in-hand with the nation’s preeminent tech-enabled business services company into public sector organisations who would othewise likely not return your calls.
Capita has an impressive track record boosting growth and enhancing valuations of its partners, so don’t miss out.
Applications close Friday 24th February and you can find full information about how YOU can scale up with Capita on our website by clicking on the pic.
As we begin 2023 the market remains in a state of uncertainty, with job cuts, inflation, the war in Ukraine and the threat of cyberattack still ever-present. Companies are now re-evaluating their IT spending priorities including their investment in cybersecurity.
TechMarketView believes productivity will be a key driver across the UK SITS market this year, but for cybersecurity pro-activity is perhaps just as important. Cyber attacks continue to evolve, and whilst phishing attacks remain the most prominent, we have seen increasingly sophisticated ransomware and data exfiltration take place throughout the past year. Only organisations who are prepared for a range of possible cyber threats will be in the best position to mitigate the effects of any attacks.
In this Cybersecurity Predictions 2023 report we explore just a few of our predictions for the UK market in the year ahead. Subscribers to all TechMarketView research streams can read the full report here. If you are not currently a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth at dseth@techmarketview.com for further details on how to gain access.
Posted by Simon Baxter at '22:15' - Tagged: cybersecurity
Nine days into our Future Steps challenge for the Prince’s Trust and we’ve realised just how difficult it is to do 10,000 steps on a work day!
But with a combination of early morning/late night dog walks, lunchtime runs, power walks between meetings in London and the occasional impromptu kitchen disco, the two TechMarketView teams are ahead of target, surpassing the one million step mark in style today.
We’re hugely grateful for the support that we’ve received so far but would love to raise more. If you can spare a pound or two to inspire us to keep stepping for another 19 days and - more importantly - to enable the Prince’s Trust to help even more young people take steps to a brighter future, please do choose a team and follow the link to their Just Giving page:
TMV Striders – representing the Client Services team - Belinda, Tola, Helen, Becci & Holly, currently with 562,995 steps... bit.ly/3jGxNRV
TMV Stepaholics – representing the Analyst team – Tania, Georgina, Kate, Marc & Dale, with 525,953 steps so far... bit.ly/3HPfjqd
Thank you from us all!
Posted by TMV Team at '17:29' - Tagged: fundraising
This week I attended Oracle NetSuite’s SuiteConnect conference in London – the first one since 2019. It was an opportunity for the company – which was acquired by Oracle in 2016 – to demonstrate the increasingly rapid pace of investment in its product suite.
In UKHotViewsExtra - Oracle NetSuite demonstrates pace of investment | TechMarketView - subscribers to TechMarketView research services can learn about what is driving NetSuite’s recent strong growth, how it is investing to resonate with the priorities of its target customer group, and how existing customers are benefiting from the product suite as their businesses have diversified and increased in complexity.
We were also able to speak to a NetSuite customer about their experience from product selection through to live running. And we learnt of a new offering to customers that aims to tackle an age-old problem: how to ensure users are making the most of the functionality available to them.
If you are a TechMarketView subscriber you can access the research now: Oracle NetSuite demonstrates pace of investment | TechMarketView. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Deb Seth to find out more.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:13' - Tagged: erp cloud productannouncement data
With so much happening across the world in terms of cyber attacks, regulatory change and the constant evolution of techniques and behaviours by the various ransomware and cyber-criminal groups, it can be challenging to stay on top of the latest threats to organisations and the subsequent impact on demand for cybersecurity solutions.
This CyberViews report aims to provide a concise summary and analysis of the latest cybersecurity trends, threats and news from across the global market, with a focus on the UK. Even if stopping cyber attacks is not your day job, I highly encourage you to give it a read, cybersecurity risks now impact almost every role and business, disrupting daily operations, impacting brand perception, as well as the potential for financial loss. The risk of cyber attack is driving IT investment and cultural change beyond security, and means security awareness has never been more important.
In this half yearly report we take a closer look at recent attacks on Education institutions, a rise in DDoS and Business email compromise, the effects of two of Australia’s worst security breaches in its history and a new Phishing as-a-service platform, which is making conducting such cyber-attacks easier than ever, and much more.
We also look at some of the more significant breaches in H2, including the hacking of password manger LastPass, data breaches at Twitter and Uber, and a crippling ransomware attack on the Center Hospital Sud Francilien in France.
Subscribers to TechSectorViews can read the full report here. If you are not currently a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth at dseth@techmarketview.com for further details.
Posted by Simon Baxter at '09:37' - Tagged: cybersecurity
TechMarketView is once again helping Capita find exciting, innovative startups and scaleups to partner with. This is an outstanding opportunity for young tech companies with digital solutions that help transform and automate UK public sector.
Just click on the pic to hear TechMarketView Manging Partner Anthony Miller explain more and then click here to find out how you can apply for the chance to pitch your solution to Capita.
CLICK ON THE PIC TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN APPLY TO SCALE UP WITH CAPITA
TechMarketView is taking steps to change young lives again this February with two teams battling it out in The Prince’s Trust’s Future Steps 2023 challenge.
Each of us needs to do at least 10,000 steps a day throughout February, which isn’t as easy as it sounds when you have sedentary, office-based jobs!
It’s fair to say it’s a genuine challenge for us, but we’re looking forward to getting more active and in the process raising funds for the Prince's Trust so that the charity can support even more young people to transform their lives.
There’s a healthy element of competition too, with over 700 teams trying to rack up the most steps over the course of the month. It’s only Day 1 and already there are some pretty impressive step counts!
TechMarketView is proudly represented by a team of five from Client Services – TMV Striders – and one from the Analyst team – TMV Stepaholics. And we’re in good company! The tech sector is well-represented with teams from Capgemini (who designed the Future Steps app), HCL, Oracle, AWS, Technology One, Kyndryl, Russell Reynolds and others also gracing the leaderboard.
Please do show the teams your support and consider sponsoring them if you can. The Prince’s Trust has already helped over 1,000,000 young people to transform their lives with confidence, courses & careers, and its services have never been more needed.
You can follow the links here for the JustGiving pages for TMV Striders or TMV Stepaholics.
Thank you & good luck to all the steppers!
Posted by TMV Team at '15:14'
