Financial Releases
Trading Statement
18 Dec 2007
Aggreko plc, the world leader in the provision of temporary
power, temperature control and oil-free air solutions, is issuing
the following trading update for the year ending 31st December
2007.
Trading in the second half has continued to be very strong, and
the Group's performance will be somewhat ahead of current market
expectations, with operating profit for the year, in Sterling
terms, growing by about 50%.
All of our Local businesses have performed well in the second
half, and in aggregate Local business revenues will be about 20%
ahead of the prior year. Trading in the Middle East, Asia,
Australia and South America has been buoyant with second half
revenues expected to grow by around 50%. Our European and North
American businesses have performed well and are expected to show
year on year revenue growth of around 15% for the second half.
The International Power Projects business continues to run at
very high levels of utilisation on a fleet which, as a consequence
of record levels of investment, is about 40% larger than a year
ago; we now expect second half revenues, excluding fuel, to be
about 45% ahead of the prior year. We anticipate that margins will
be higher than the corresponding period last year but, as
predicted, slightly lower than the exceptional levels seen in the
first half.
Good progress has been made against our strategic objective to
increase the scale of our Power Projects businesses in South
America and in Asia. In South America we have in recent weeks won
several important multi-year contracts which, in aggregate, require
over 100MW of temporary power. In Asia, we have recently won an
18-month contract for the supply of 20MW of gas-powered generation
in Indonesia; this is an important step forward for our new gas
product, as well as for our Asian business.
Looking ahead to the first half of 2008, we expect that the
Group will make further good progress, and we plan to increase the
rate of investment in our fleet, most particularly in International
Power Projects, to take advantage of the opportunities the business
has positioned itself to exploit. While conditions in North America
may become more difficult, we believe that this will be more than
offset by our strong position in other regions, which continue to
show robust growth.
Preliminary Results will be announced on 6th March 2008, at
which time we will also give an update on the Group's markets.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Rupert Soames, Aggreko
Angus Cockburn, Aggreko
Charlotte Walsh, Maitland |
Tel: 0141 225 5900
Tel: 0141 225 5900
Tel: 020 7379 5151 |