NorthLink Ferries operator Serco Group suffered a £160 million hit to sales in the first half of its trading year.
And in a further blow for the outsourcing giant, Serco expects profits for the full year to be negatively impacted by the cost of it taking on healthcare contracts from failed construction group Carillion.
Serco, which also runs Caledonian Sleeper train services between Scotland and London, reported the 10.6% year-on-year drop in first-half revenue, to £1.35 billion, in a trading update yesterday.
Underlying trading profits for the six months to June 30 are expected to come in between £35m and £40m, compared with £34m a year ago.
Full-year revenue is forecast to come in between £2.7bn and £2.8bn, generating underlying trading profits of £80m.
The company previously said 2018 revenue would be between £2.8bn and £2.9bn.
Serco has been working with Carillion’s liquidators to take on contracts held by the construction firm at the time of its collapse in January.
The outsourcer expects to take on service deals for six NHS hospitals, bringing in roughly £70m in extra revenue and adding about £4m to underlying trading profits.
But Serco said net profits for the year were likely to suffer a “small negative impact” overall, because it will also bear costs for taking on the work.
Serco took a £60m hit to first-half sales due to currency movements, which also hit trading profits by up to £4m.
Chief executive Rupert Soames said: “Notwithstanding market conditions that are less than ideal, particularly in the UK, we are responding appropriately and continuing to make progress in line with our strategy.”
Hampshire-listed Serco manages more than 500 contracts worldwide and employs in excess of 50,000 people globally.
Higher-than-expected operating costs for the Caledonian Sleeper trains blew a £47m hole in the company’s balance sheet last year, prompting a warning that Serco may seek an early exit from the 15-year franchise.
One-off gains during 2017 offset the financial impact of running night trains between London Euston and Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen.
Serco, which took over Caledonian Sleeper services, previously part of ScotRail, on March 31, 2015, is due to post first half results on August 2.