Capita's underlying pre-tax profit up

23rd Jul 2009 07:03

Outsourcing group Capita saw its bid pipeline ease back a little but said demand for outsourcing remains buoyant, after announcing a 18% increase in interim underlying pre-tax profit.Profit before tax, excluding various charges, rose to £141.7m in the first half of 2009 from £120.2m in the first half of 2008.Turnover rose to £1,311m from £1,182m, with major contracts secured during the period up 30% to £814m from £626m a year earlier.The bid pipeline dipped marginally to £3bn from £3.1bn.“Across our bid pipeline, our most active markets remain local government, life and pensions and the wider financial sector. Additionally, there are a number of interesting central government, health and defence opportunities,” the company said.The interim dividend has been lifted from 4.8p to 5.6p.