Shares in Regus fell by more than 6 per cent today after the serviced office provider reported worse-than-expected profits and warned of a challenging business environment.
The FTSE 250 company, whose serviced offices are used by blue-chip clients such as Google, GlaxoSmithKline and Nokia, as well as mobile individuals, reported pre-tax profit of £45.5 million in 2011, up from £23.6 million in 2010 but below the analyst consensus of £51 million.
Andrew Shepherd-Barron, a Peel Hunt analyst, said that the company was sending a “negative subliminal message” to investors by hiding its pre-tax profit figure on page 9 of its results and highlighting the more “flattering” operating profit, which more than doubled to £50.6 million.
Shares slumped by 7p, or 6.2 per cent, to 105p in morning trade.
Regus, which offers ready-to-use offices for rentals as short as half a day in cities in 94 countries, set out plans to open another 200 locations this year, as it bets that companies and workers will increasingly demand flexible workspace.
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The group has set an ambitious target of opening 2,000 locations by 2014. It has about 1,200 locations and plans to open another 200 in 2012, up from 139 last year.
Mark Dixon, the chief executive, said: “Whilst in the near term we foresee the general business environment remaining challenging at a macro level, we remain optimistic about the long-term growth prospects and strategy of the business.”
He added: “As such, we are ready and capable to invest further to accelerate growth but, if macroeconomic conditions deteriorate, scale back accordingly.”
Mike Allen, a Panmure Gordon analyst, said: “The outlook statement was a bit cautious but it can’t really be blamed for that. The macro environment is quite uncertain out there.”
Revenue for the year rose by 12 per cent to £1.16 billion, helped by an 8 per cent rise in occupancy levels at locations that have been open for more than 12 months.
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Regus, which has also been expanding its network into locations such as train stations and motorway services,increased its full-year dividend by 12 per cent to 2.9 pence.