(Reuters) - Activist investor Starboard Value LP said it raised its stake in Brink’s Co, a provider of cash transportation and ATM services, to about 12.4 percent.
Starboard, Brink’s largest shareholder, had reported a 9 percent stake in the company in July.
The hedge fund said on Monday it had sent a letter to Brink’s board on its poor financial results, “specifically low and declining margins”, and had outlined steps to improve its operating performance.
Brink’s shares rose about 3 percent to $29.27 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The news comes less than a week after Starboard, run by Jeffrey Smith, said it bought a 3.7 percent stake in automotive parts retailer Advance Auto Parts Inc.
Although Brink’s has a “better product and geographic mix, as well as the benefit of greater scale”, the company’s margins are “substantially below the margins of its peers”, mainly Swedish cash handler Loomis AB, Starboard said.
Starboard said on Monday Brink’s turnaround should include technology and route logistics improvements, cost cuts and a more incentive-based compensation structure for employees.
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey
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