Serco boss dismisses 'outsourcing boom'

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"I'm not a subscriber to the belief that there's tons of work we're all about to get and it's all going to be easy," said chief executive Christopher Hyman.

"I talk about things only when I can see them and when they're certain, rather than talking up the market. Our growth has come from overseas."

Serco - which runs the Boris Bike cycle hire scheme and the Docklands Light Railway - made 40% of its revenues abroad last year. In the UK, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cabinet Office to make some of its contracts cheaper in November, and suffered the cancellation of one prison and the phasing out of the Business Link contracts.

"That was tough for us," Hyman said. "We understand the situation the country is in and what needs to be done, but we don't think we're about to get tons of work here.

"It will be payment by results - unless citizens get visible benefits, outsourcers will not get any money. We're experienced at doing that. But it will be a tighter market."

He was speaking as Serco posted annual pre-tax profits up a fifth to £213.9 million.