Capita soaring to £385m after winning record new contracts

New contracts worth £2bn, including running the Teachers' Pension Scheme, organising car tax for the DVLA and TV licensing for the BBC, helped the outsourcer Capita to enjoy a 6 per cent rise in profit to £385.2m last year.

Paul Pindar, the chief executive, said 2011 had been a "challenging year" for the company that runs swathes of Britain's public services but then pointed out its £2bn of new business was a record.

The chief executive added: "We also completed a series of acquisitions in 2011 which will play a key role in extending our capabilities." They included spending £7.5m on a translation business that works in law courts, prisons and police stations, while last month Capita beat rival Serco to a £500m deal to run recruitment services for the British Army.

David Brockton, a support services analyst at Espirito Santo, said: "Capita had a good year for wins in 2011, but this mostly reflected renewals and a poor comparator in 2010."

Shares in the FTSE 100 firm, which employs 45,000 people, rose 29.5p, or 4 per cent, to 718p.