Regus mad for Madagascar

Office space provider Regus has opened a business centre in Madagascar, bringing up to 95 the number of countries in which it operates.

The centre is at the Explorer Business Park at Ankorodrano, in the north of the capital, Antananarivo, one of the island's prime business districts.

The company is planning to expand rapidly in Africa, hoping to capitalise on companies from the "old world" seeking to do likewise.

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"Any business that wants to grow needs to find new markets, and Africa is an important development market for companies of all sizes," claimed Mark Dixon, Chief Executive Officer of Regus.

Shares in the office space supplier were down 1.35p at 95.8p in early trading after the announcement of the new business centre in Madagascar. The stock has, however, had a good run recently, and are up 13% or so over the last month. Last week Panmure Gordon downgraded the shares to "hold" after the stock's relative out-performance versus the sector.

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