Government outsourcer Capita has warned that profits for 2018 would be about a third lower than expected, prompting it to axe dividend payments to shareholders and raise £700m by issuing new shares.
Its shares plunged by nearly 50% (more than £1bn) following the profit warning. Capita's shares fell another 12.47% to 159.75p on February 1.
Following the warning, Optical Confederation and Locsu said the Government and NHS England ‘must prepare to step in’ if Capita continued to let down NHS primary care contractors.
Optical Confederation chair, Fiona Anderson said: ‘Our members have already been suffering for two years because of Capita’s failure to deliver a primary care support service in England. We wrote to Simon Stevens only last week to set out our members’ continuing anger and frustration at Capita’s failure to improve and our complete lack of confidence in Capita. We said then that unless things turn around immediately, the time has come for NHS England to find another service provider.
‘Today’s news underlines the need for NHS England and the Government to prepare to step in and make sure the vital care that our members and other NHS contractors provide to patients is properly supported – whatever Capita’s financial problems. As we’ve seen with Carillion, it is ultimately up to the Government to make sure the failings of private service providers don’t damage the NHS.’
Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden told a Business Select committee that Capita was not comparable to Carillion. He said: ‘We regularly monitor the financial stability of all our strategic suppliers including Capita and we do not believe that they are in a comparable position to Carillion.
‘The measures that Capita has announced are designed to strengthen its balance sheet, reduce its pension deficit and to invest in core elements of its business. Arguably these are the measures that could have prevented Carillion from getting into the difficulties that they did.’
