Aggreko posted a record year, with revenue increasing 20 percent and earnings per share leaping 27 percent, the company’s highest ever levels of margin, earnings and return on capital employed. Group revenue totaled £1.23 billion (about U.S. $1.98 billion) compared with $1.02 billion in 2009.
Aggreko’s Local business division jumped 24 percent and trading profit soared 45 percent. The company’s International Power Projects increased 8 percent with trading profit for that division rising 5 percent.
It was a strong year for major events for Aggreko, including £87 million in revenue from the Vancouver Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup and the Asian Games. Also Aggreko was tabbed to be the exclusive supplier of temporary energy services at the London Olympics in 2012.
Aggreko now has 1,300 megawatts of new work in 25 countries, with more than 50 percent of its IPP fleet on rent in Asia and Central and South America.
Aggreko plans to spend a record fleet capex of £320 million in 2011, a 26-percent year-over- year increase, and has invested £30 million in bolt-on acquisitions during the past three months, including the purchase of N.Z. Generator Hire Ltd. of New Zealand a week ago.
“2010 demonstrated the strength of Aggreko’s business model,” said chief executive Rupert Soames. “A hat trick of major events has allowed us to deliver strong earnings growth while our International Power Projects business completely re-structured its order book and delivered the key strategic objective of improving the regional balance of business between Africa, the Americas and Asia.”
“The current instability in some countries in the Middle East and Africa makes the task of predicting the outcome for the year more than normally difficult,” said Philip Rogerson, Aggreko chairman. “Our global scale and diversification of risk exposures will be helpful as we manage through this period of uncertainty, and we anticipate that for the year as a whole trading profit in 2011 will be at a similar level to 2010. Allowing for currency movements and the £87 million of major events revenue in 2010, which will not recur in 2011, this would represent underlying growth of around 15 percent.”
Based in Scotland, with U.S. headquarters in Houston, Aggreko is No. 9 on the RER 100.
