Update23 Mar 2010 08:39
“Regus the outsourced workplaces provider, suffered a 41% fall in operating profit in 2009 with basic earnings per share down by the same amount to 7.1p. The shares rose by 13.3p to 100.5p. Revenues were slightly lower, down 2% to 1,055.1 million pounds, but strong cash generation and good growth prospects caused the firm to hike the dividend by 33% to 2.4p for the year. The firm added that its cost savings programme was ahead of schedule, with savings of 54.6 million pounds achieved so far. The average number of available workstations rose by 5.3% in the year to 161,455, and 45 new centres were opened in 2009, although this is only a third of the figure for 2008. Investec said that Regus was a clear leader in a growth market, and the broker has a buy stance and 150p target price on the firm.”