Regus rises as occupancy rates near maximum

Regus, the international office space supplier, has seen revenues grow 17% in the four months to the end of October although it says it is planning cautiously for 2012.

The company, which was founded in Brussels but is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed in London, reported total turnover of £394m, up from £336m in the corresponding period last year.

Regus operates 1,200 offices across the globe that clients can hire space in for as short a period as half a day.

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82% of its sites are considered "mature" which means they were opened on, or before, December 31, 2009. Revenue from these sites is essentially a like-for-like comparison so useful for investors, was up 7% on the prior year to £348m.

Regus says: "Mature occupancy rates are at historic highs and are close to the limit that we believe that we can achieve."

The company also opened 46 new sites in the reporting period, including first entries into Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Croatia and Slovenia.

Net cash reduced, Regus says in line with normal seasonal fluctuations, by £14m to £184m.

In full self-congratulatory mode the company says "our business has demonstrated real resilience in 2011, with record occupancy levels delivering healthy profits and strong underlying cash flows".

However it acknowledges global macroeconomic uncertainty and says this will impact planning assumptions for next year.

Shares in Regus were up 2.05% in morning trading.

BS