Regus Posts Rise In H1 Profit, Raises Dividend

reported a gain in its first-half pretax profit and lifted the dividend. The company's pretax profit for the period climbed to GBP79.1 million ($124.7 million), compared to GBP31 million. Excluding items, the company's underlying pretax earnings surged 86 percent to GBP57.8 million. Its revenue rose 16 percent to GBP937 million. The company raised the dividend to 1.4 pence versus 1.25 pence. CEO Mark Dixon said, "Regus delivered an excellent first half performance, giving us further confidence for the future. Our investments are delivering attractive returns, with returns on past investments improving and remaining well above our cost of capital and newer investments trading in line with our expectations." On June 30, 2015, net debt was GBP136.9 million, versus GBP161.3 million, a year ago. Regus shares fell 3.05 percent to close at $39.99 yesterday.