The timing could scarcely have been less opportune. In April last year Capita told investors about its plan to raise just over £700 million through a rights issue — less than four months after the collapse of Carillion, its industry peer, and with the markets fretting about which of the big outsourcing companies might be the next to fail. Since Capita was warning at the same time of sharply lower future profits and was suspending its dividend, its shares, all too predictably, fell sharply.
A little over a year later and a good deal has changed — save for the unpopularity of the sector and Capita’s share price, which is close to record lows.
The company was founded in 1984 as part of the Chartered