Shares lift as Regus unveils rise in full year revenue

Revenue rose 9.2 per cent to 1.2bn pounds at FTSE 250-listed Regus in the year ended December 31st, prompting shares to rise.

The group, which provides flexible workplaces, reported that operating profit rose by 66% to £90.2m and total overheads increased 4.1% at constant currency.

With an 11% increase in average consolidated workstations to 204,459, average cost per available workstation reduced by 8.0%.

Earnings per share increased to 7.5p, representing a 74% increase from last year and the company proposed a 10% increase in the full year dividend to 3.2p.

Mark Dixon, Chief Executive Officer of Regus, said: "Our strategy of pursuing targeted revenue and margin growth to achieve mature profitability, strong cash generation and long-term earnings per share growth has again delivered. We continue to see a strong and accelerating momentum towards flexible working and our results today reflect this global shift."

"We continue to focus on improving margins in our Mature business and investing in new locations. We remain on track to achieve a global network of at least 2,000 locations by the end of 2014, and our recent acquisition of a majority interest in MWB Business Exchange further supports this goal."

Regus' share price was up 10.04% to 142.50p at 11:58 on Tuesday.

MF