Troubled Serco plans to raise £170m

Troubled outsourcing firm Serco has announced plans to raise £170m through issuing new shares.

The firm also revealed that its chief financial officer, Andrew Jenner, was stepping down.

Existing shares in Serco were trading down 2.1% on Thursday following the announcements, which were made after the markets closed on Wednesday night.

Serco has been hit by costs relating to its overcharging the UK government on a criminal tagging contract.

The firm was accused of charging for tagging people who were either dead or in jail.

In March, it said profit plunged 62% last year after it was hit by costs relating to the scandal.

Rupert Soames, the former boss of engineering firm Aggreko, took over as Serco chief executive on Thursday morning.

On Tuesday, Serco said its performance for the year had been "more challenging than expected".

It warned this could mean a "material downward revision" to its profits forecasts.