18th Dec 2007 07:00
Aggreko PLC18 December 2007 18th December 2007 Aggreko plc TRADING STATEMENT Aggreko plc, the world leader in the provision of temporary power, temperaturecontrol and oil-free air solutions, is issuing the following trading update forthe year ending 31st December 2007. Trading in the second half has continued to be very strong, and the Group'sperformance will be somewhat ahead of current market expectations, withoperating profit for the year, in Sterling terms, growing by about 50%. All of our Local businesses have performed well in the second half, and inaggregate Local business revenues will be about 20% ahead of the prior year.Trading in the Middle East, Asia, Australia and South America has been buoyantwith second half revenues expected to grow by around 50%. Our European andNorth American businesses have performed well and are expected to show year onyear revenue growth of around 15% for the second half. The International Power Projects business continues to run at very high levelsof utilisation on a fleet which, as a consequence of record levels ofinvestment, is about 40% larger than a year ago; we now expect second halfrevenues, excluding fuel, to be about 45% ahead of the prior year. Weanticipate that margins will be higher than the corresponding period last yearbut, as predicted, slightly lower than the exceptional levels seen in the firsthalf. Good progress has been made against our strategic objective to increase thescale of our Power Projects businesses in South America and in Asia. In SouthAmerica we have in recent weeks won several important multi-year contractswhich, in aggregate, require over 100MW of temporary power. In Asia, we haverecently won an 18-month contract for the supply of 20MW of gas-poweredgeneration in Indonesia; this is an important step forward for our new gasproduct, as well as for our Asian business. Looking ahead to the first half of 2008, we expect that the Group will makefurther good progress, and we plan to increase the rate of investment in ourfleet, most particularly in International Power Projects, to take advantage ofthe opportunities the business has positioned itself to exploit. Whileconditions in North America may become more difficult, we believe that this willbe more than offset by our strong position in other regions, which continue toshow robust growth. Preliminary Results will be announced on 6th March 2008, at which time we willalso give an update on the Group's markets. ENDS For further information, please contact: Rupert Soames, Aggreko Tel: 0141 225 5900 Angus Cockburn, Aggreko Tel: 0141 225 5900 Charlotte Walsh, Maitland Tel: 020 7379 5151 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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