Capita share price falls: Receives fresh blow ahead of crucial restructuring update

Capita shares sunk to a fresh 20-year low today as jittery investors took profits ahead of a pivotal announcement later this month.

The outsourcer was one of London’s biggest losers, falling over seven per cent.

Analysts were left flummoxed by the precise reasons for Capita’s latest dive with some pointing to profit-taking amid thin trading following the Easter Bank Holiday.

The selloff came as a fresh blow to the FTSE 250 firm, which has seen more than 80 per cent of market value wiped away since last June.

Read more: Capita shares plunge to lows last seen in 1998

Capita is due to announce its full-year figures on 26 April with traders expecting details of a restructuring plan to be laid out. Bondholders have enlisted restructuring experts from FTI Consulting to support them in a possible shake-up of their £1.6bn debt pile. Capita is also prepared to push the button on a £700m standby rights issue.

Almost £1bn was wiped off the market value of Capita at the end of January after the firm warned on profits. As one of a handful of strategic suppliers to the government, Whitehall officials insisted it was in “regular discussions” with Capita and the firm was not “in a comparable position to Carillion”.

Capita boss Jonathan Lewis has admitted earlier this year that the group – which delivers projects for the likes of HM Revenue & Customs and TV Licensing – had become too complicated. It lacked discipline and flexibility and non-core disposals would not be sufficient and Capita would need to suspend its dividend, Lewis said.

Read more: Woodford sticks to his guns despite “poor investment” in Capita