Impressive start for Aggreko

Temporary power and temperature control solutions group Aggreko claims to have had a 'very strong' first quarter, with both International Power Projects and the Local business growing underlying revenues by over a fifth.

Underlying group revenues as a whole increased by 21% in the three months to March 31st 2012, while reported turnover rose 18%. Underlying trading margins were slightly ahead of last year.

Underlying comparisons exclude sales from major events such as the Asian Games (2011) and London Olympics (2012) and pass-through fuel and currency movements.

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In 2011 as a whole, underling group revenues were up 22%, while reported revenues were 14% higher than the previous year.

Aggreko said that the full-year performance of the Local business will depend on trading in the summer, but should be helped by the £50m of contracts with the London Olympics. International Power Projects has received strong order intake and has a healthy prospect pipeline and is expected to deliver strong growth.

"We continue to believe that we will deliver another year of good growth in 2012," the grow said.

Net debt at the end of the first quarter stood at £428m, up £63m since the start of the year due to the front-loading of capital spend, partly to build the fleet required for the Olympics. Net debt at March 31st 2011 stood at £195m with the year-on-year increase coming from the return of capital made to shareholders in July of last year and higher levels of capital expenditure.

Separately, the firm also announced that it has been awarded a two-year project valued at $80m for 100MW of gas-powered generation in the Dominican Republic.

"There is an urgent need for utility power in the Dominican Republic due to a rapid increase in demand for electricity, driven by economic growth in the country, which has affected national grid stability," the statement said.

BC