Outsourcer Capita's third-quarter revenue falls on pandemic hit

(Reuters) - Capita <CPI.L> said on Tuesday it lost nearly 100 million pounds in third-quarter revenue as the COVID-19 pandemic hit its businesses, while cost cuts helped the British outsourcer eke out a small rise in adjusted core profit.

Britain's outsourcing industry had been forced to cut costs and shrink operations even before the pandemic, hit by a wave of cutbacks exacerbated by the country's decision to leave the European Union.

Capita, which provides consulting and digital services to the public and private sector, has been trying to sell some non-core assets to bolster its finances.

The company said talks were ongoing to offload its standalone Education Software Solutions business, whose platform SIMS is used by 21,000 schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, for at least 500 million pounds.

"We continue to make progress to strengthen the balance sheet with the disposal of non-core assets, including the proposed sale of our education software business," Chief Executive Officer Jon Lewis said in a statement.

According to a Bloomberg report last month, the company got lower-than-expected bids for the education software unit.

Capita said revenue in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 came in at 803 million pounds, compared with 902 million pounds last year. Adjusted core profit rose 3.6% to 115 million pounds.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)