Aggreko says interim profit will be up 40%

Aggreko’s rapid forward progress shows little sign of slowing down – interim turnover (six months to the end of June) looks set to turn out 25% higher than in the first half of last year, while pre-tax profit will be 40% higher.

A strong ray of sunshine in gloomy times.

Aggreko is similarly bullish about the group’s full 12-month performance, stating that “the board believes that profits for the full year are likely to be above current market expectations”.

Aggreko is a world leader in the supply of temporary power, temperature control and oil-free compressed air services.

Over the past six months, growth has been board-based: local businesses in the Middle East, Asia, Australia, central and south America have all made good progress.

On top of that trading profits in Europe are expected to be significantly higher than in the prior year.

Aggreko’s trading update, issued this morning, states: “Looking ahead to the full year, the results in Europe and North America will be influenced by the summer season, which has got off to an encouraging start, with the UEFA football championships in Europe and the high temperatures in North America.

“In both areas a modest reduction in demand for power has been more than offset by strong demand for temperature control.

“If we achieve our historical average level of storm revenues, we would expect trading profits in North America to be at similar levels to last year.

“In Europe we expect to make good progress in the year as a whole, and we also anticipate substantial increases in trading profits.”