Aggreko slumps after profit blow

AGGREKO saw £500m wiped off the value of its stock after another profit warning.

The shares fell by 12pc after the temporary power supplier warned profits would be 8pc lower than expected following a raft of setbacks.

It has been forced to spend more on security in Yemen because of instability, which has made its operations more costly.

The company also blamed a slowdown in its US shale gas business and unfavourable contract terms in its Bangladeshi division for the shortfall.

Aggreko rents out generators to customers that range from developing nations to festival organisers.

But it is exposed to volatility and instability in many of the countries in which it operates.

Shares have fallen by almost a third in the space of the last 12 months. They slipped 175p to 1255p.

Chief executive Chris Weston joined from British Gas to replace Rupert Soames, whose tenure saw the firm increase in value ten-fold.

But analysts said there are concerns the company overstretched itself and will not be able to replicate its booming growth rates of earlier years.

Analysts at Investec have a ‘sell’ recommendation on the company. SOARING tax receipts have pushed government borrowing down to the lowest level since before the financial crisis struck.

The total tax take reached £147.5bn in the first three months of the financial year – up 5.4pc on a year earlier and the biggest haul for the April to June period on record.

The report, from the Office for National Statistics, showed the Government borrowed £25.1bn between April and June.

That was £6.1bn less than in the same period last year and the lowest amount for the period since 2008 ( seegraph).