When you are trading on the sort of multiple Capita shares enjoy, and are just weeks off hitting an all-time high, it is easy to disappoint. There were not a lot of negatives in the first half figures, but the market latched on to one, and the shares fell 15p to £12.71p.
Underlying revenues were up by 10 per cent, operating profits by 11 per cent to £288.8 million and the half-way dividend was raised by 9 per cent to 10.5p. Yet that revenue growth was boosted by acquisitions such as avocis, the continental European outsourcer bought in February and the company’s biggest ever deal. However, in the context of a company with a market capitalisation of more than £8 billion, a purchase price of