Even With Olympics Catastrophe, Analysts Believe Business Will Continue To Be Good For G4S

In the minds of the public, politicians and media, the world's biggest security company G4S is "fatally damaged after completely mangling its eight-week contract to provide security for the London Olympics," according to Simon Neville of the London GUARDIAN. However, analysts who have followed G4S for years "are far from convinced" that the company will suffer in the long term. They believe that "thanks to the short term memories of ministers and officials, stricter laws about security guards that should make outsourcing more attractive, and the U.K.'s irrelevance when billions can be made elsewhere," business will continue to thrive. Before the catastrophe of the Olympics, the company "planned to earn" half its worldwide revenues from emerging markets in Asia and Africa. In '11, G4S generated £1.8B ($2.9B) from developing countries compared to £1.3B ($2B) from the U.K. Even CEO Nick Buckles admitted the Olympics contract was "barely profitable" when he was "grilled by the home affairs select committee last week" (GUARDIAN, 7/21).