Elec. Telegraph: Security co. reaps bounty re ATMs

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

16 Dec issue

Millennium cash machine bonanza for Securicor By Andrew Clark

SECURICOR is enjoying a Millennium bonanza, as banks get hundreds of extra cash machines installed in time for the extra-long New Year holiday.

The company's cash services operation, which keeps the machines full, has been working round the clock to keep up with demand. Jeff Pack, Group treasurer, said: "The Bank of England has asked for a whole bunch more to be installed quickly, to boost the cash in circulation. There were concerns about availability over the millennium."

Securicor's cash services business serves every leading bank and building society, with a market share of 60pc in delivering and processing money. Mr Pack was speaking as the company clocked up an 18pc rise in annual pre-tax profits to #102m. This included #14.6m generated by the group's 40pc stake in mobile phones company Cellnet, which was sold to British Telecom last month.

The results sent Securicor's shares surging 22p to a new high of 178p. The price has been strong recently because of takeover speculation: Securicor was obliged to issue a statement four weeks ago denying any approaches. Mr Pack said there had been no developments since then: "Nothing has changed."

Acquisitions are on the agenda, and the company has a #250m war chest. In particular, it wants guarding and cash delivery operations in The Netherlands, Germany, the United States and Australia, markets which it considers ripe for development.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), December 17, 1999


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