Capita CEO gets early win with BBC contract extension

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Capita said it has won an extension on a contract to provide audience services to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in an early win for Jonathan Lewis, who became chief executive of the outsourcing firm last December.

Lewis is working to simplify Capita's structure after years of working in myriad activities and lacking a coherent strategy led to contract losses and attrition. A spate of profit warnings have dragged its market value down by two thirds to just below 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in a year.

The BBC contract extension is good news for Capita after it failed to win a British Airways call centre deal last mont, despite a period of exclusive talks.

Capita, whose shares were up by 1.8 percent to 148 pence at 1300 GMT on Wednesday, has provided the BBC with the service since 1999, and said it has won a tender to extend this for an initial five years, with a possible extension for a further two.

It declined to give the financial details of the contract, which involves providing the BBC with audience feedback and ideas for programme-making and new ways to encourage public participation at the state-owned broadcaster.

Separately, Capita also manages the collection of the BBC's licence fee.

($1 = 0.7037 pounds)

(Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Alexander Smith)