Aggreko ups full-year profit forecast

17th Dec 2010 07:04

A surge in activity in the fourth quarter enabled temporary power and temperature control specialist Aggreko to nudge its full-year profit estimates higher.It now expects a pre-tax profit of around £305m for 2010, up from its estimate of £300m in October.Trading was 'better than anticipated' in the fourth quarter, the company said. It now expects full-year revenues to climb by 20% from the previous year to £1.22bn. The new profit estimate represents a 25% rise from the previous year.The International Power Projects business, which installs and operates temporary power plants and sells their power on, saw a record order intake in the final three month period, the company said. Underlying trading margins in the division have remained strong in the fourth quarter and for the full year are anticipated to be broadly similar to 2009, Aggreko said.In the Local business, which rents out power and temperature control systems, improved growth rates continued into the fourth quarter. Aggreko, which benefited from events such as the football World Cup during 2010, said that about £90m in revenues from major events will not recur in 2011.'Notwithstanding this, we anticipate that trading profit in 2011 will be at a similar level to 2010; this would represent strong underlying year-on-year growth,' the company said.