SECURICOR hopes to profit from international interest in privatised prisons and in prisoner tagging, the company said yesterday as it revealed a strong performance in its justice services division.

The company, which owns and runs Parc prison at Bridgend, said that there were about 15 foreign governments currently looking at the British system of electronic tagging of prisoners, for which Securicor provides the tags and monitoring devices.

The trend towards outsourcing so-called justice services is increasing and Securicor is involved in constructing and managing prisons, escorting prisoners to court, tagging and supporting police.

Securicor, which has gone through a major restructuring this year, said that its business had performed well in the year to September 30 despite difficult market conditions.

During the year the company made significant disposals, in particular selling the remaining 50 per cent stake in its parcel delivery business to Deutsche Post for £167 million. This enabled the company to return £75 million to shareholders through a special dividend. Shares in the group rose 13.9 per cent to 92p, after falling about 15 per cent in the past three weeks due to fears of a disappointing result.

The company said that there was sluggish demand for its key security guard business, which was also experiencing acute pricing pressure.

The cash-processing unit had also suffered from a slow take-up by financial service firms. But Nick Buckles, chief executive, said that he was “mildly optimistic” for 2004. “It’s been a challenging year and our competitors have all issued warnings in the last few months. But our profitability is now stronger and we have a sound basis on which to go forward,” Mr Buckles said.

Pre-tax profits before interest, amortisation and exceptionals were flat at £80.2 million, on turnover up 5.5 per cent to £1,277.1 million. Underlying profits were at £44.6 million, compared with losses of £41.4 million last time around.

Securicor said that business in Germany remained slow, but that it had won major accounts in the US, where it suffered after the Government took over airport security in the wake of September 11.

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