A report by Reuters disclosed that the new chief of British security firm G4S intended to make some drastic cuts to restore its reputation as the world's largest security firm. These would reportedly involve the sale of some of its weak business units and the retrenchment of as much as 400 of its UK staff.
On Tuesday, G4S Chief Executive Ashley Almanza said the company would be selling or restructuring 35 business units. The number of units accounted to one twentieth of the company's turnover. The business units contributed around GBP400 million in revenue last year. Almanza also said that proceeds from the planned sale and restructuring would be reserved for higher-growth emerging markets.
Almanza said, "G4S has strong fundamentals and these will be improved by changes to the way we manage the business," he said. There were significant opportunities to grow in emerging markets, which already make up over 40 percent of profit."
G4S was criticized for its staffing of the 2012 London Olympics, and for claims of prisoner abuse by its staff at a South African prison last week. Britain's Serious Fraud Office had also launched an investigation in G4S over electronic tagging contracts.
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