Acquisition costs see earnings slip at office space firm Regus
OFFICE space supplier Regus’s first-half profit fell three per cent, it said yesterday, as restructuring costs related to an acquisition earlier this year hurt margins.
Regus, which offers business lounges, meeting rooms and office space for rent for periods as short as half a day, reported that pre-tax profit fell to £31.1m for the six months ended 30 June, from £32.2m a year earlier.
Operating margins for the first half fell to 4.6 per cent from 5.6 per cent a year earlier.
Regus outbid Hong Kong-based Pyrrho Investments for MWB Business Exchange in February, offering £65.6m for 64 centres of the serviced office provider.
The Luxembourg-headquartered company, whose customers include GlaxoSmithKline, Google and Nokia, said revenue rose 22.4 per cent to £744.7m.
Revenue from the company’s mature business – centres opened on or before 31 December 2010 – increased 5.9 per cent to £626m.
Revenue per occupied workstation – a key metric in the space rental business — rose 3.7 per cent in constant currency terms to £3,913.