Logica wins long-term £200m contract

Logica shrugged off its New Year hangover on Wednesday morning and announced that it had signed a £200m contract to manage the IT services of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of England and Wales.

The deal, which will run for ten years, will see the IT services and software firm provide a high-tech "e-enabled case management service" within two years. "This will help to move the CPS towards its goal of becoming a world class prosecuting service," Logica claimed in a statement.

The CPS deal comes at a good time for Logica, which admitted back in December that it was feeling the strain of the technology sector's slump. In particular, the growth in revenues from the telecom sector has slowed -- wiping out strong financial gains in its work with the public sector. This contract could reassure the City that Logica is a sensible long-term investment.

Logica shares rose by 3.4 percent to 662p on the London stock market when the contract win was disclosed, before settling around 655p -- up around 2.3 percent on the starting price.

In November 2001, Logica announced that it was planning to cut staff numbers by between 4 and 5 percent, but insisted it was still expecting to perform well in 2002.

The Crown Prosecution Service is the Government department that prosecutes people in England and Wales who have been charged with a criminal offence by the police.

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