Continued "strong" performance for Interserve in first half

The progression of the integration of its UK Support Services business helped FTSE 250-listed Interserve deliver a strong performance in the first half of the year. The international support services and construction group on Wednesday said it continued to be encouraged by further development of its "substantial" future workload. Furthermore, management believes the group is well-placed to continue investment in its growth strategy following the issue of $350m-worth of private placement loan notes last month. In the view of Liberum, the typically brief statement was in line with expectations, prompting the broker to stick with its 'buy' rating and 750p target price. Liberum said it expected that strength at the Equipment segment was off-setting weakness at International Construction. "There is uncertainty about the South East Prime, but the order book should reach £7.5bn without it. Negative Labour comments on outsourcing [are] unlikely to have meaningful impact." It also noted the early signs at the Initial facilities management business were "encouraging" and said there was stability within the International Support Services business. It believes the stock is still inexpensive on a calendar year 2015 price to earnings ration of 9.7 times. Shares in the group had fallen 1.28% to 618p by 08:28. NR