AGGREKO chief executive Rupert Soames says there is "no sin" in the company performing just as it predicted.
Shares in the temporary power supplier closed down 39p, or 2%, to 1752p, yesterday after it signalled first-half profits would be flat in spite of underlying half-year revenues being on course to rise 5%.
The company said its trading profits – defined as operating profit before gains on sales of property, plant and equipment – are likely to be at a similar level to 2012, when the figure was £159 million.
Mr Soames said: "We can see we are on track. We are doing what we said we would do and there is no sin in that."
The predicted rise in revenue is based on stripping out the impact of the London Olympics, fuel and currency movements and the £140 million acquisition of the Brazil-based Poit Energia.
On an underlying basis, the Americas is on course to record an 11% increase in revenue with Europe, Middle East and Africa tracking for an 8% gain.
However, Asia Pacific revenue is expected to be around 6% lower, which Aggreko said is because of lower revenue from Japan, where it had deployed several generators in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and Indonesia where a number of islands are being switched over to permanent power supplies.
The power project division, where Aggreko typically provides temporary supply for large industrial businesses, utilities and governments, is likely to be 1% ahead, although margins are lower.
Aggreko said the erosion in margin was partly because of costs from the 220 megawatts of gas plants commissioned in Mozambique and the Ivory Coast.
Order intake for the first six months of 2013 is likely to be around 400 megawatts, which included projects in Tunisia and a cross-border supply deal with Namibia and Mozambique.
The company's more efficient heavy fuel oil generator engine, developed with engineering consultancy Ricardo and introduced in March, won two more contracts in the period.
The local business, which rents out everything from small generators to entire cooling plants, should see its underlying revenue rise 9% while margins are on course to be higher than 2012.
Mr Soames said: "The local business is doing very well, as we said it would.
"Power projects is a bit subdued but we have hopes with the pipeline getting stronger that we will see more orders beginning to convert."
Mr Soames was hopeful on prospects for the second half of the year although reiterated the lack of major sporting events would have an impact. He said: "It is going to be tough as the third quarter was big for the Olympics last year.
"We are going to have the thick end of £100m of revenue which happened last year and won't happen this year."
Mr Soames said the fluctuations in the Aggreko share price were something he monitored but made reference to the fact the price had risen sharply on Monday before falling back on Tuesday.
He said: "Four steps forward and two steps back I can live with."
While the stock market responded negatively to the trading update many analysts were more positive.
Caroline de La Soujeole, from Cantor, said there were no major surprises as the slower order intake was already flagged.
She said: "At the time of the [first quarter] trading update in April, management had reported that the prospects pipeline had improved.
"This remains the case and the key for Aggreko in the second half of the year will be converting this pipeline."
JP Morgan Cazenove said: "We had wondered whether the recent slowing of emerging market growth would lead management to sound a more cautious tone, but there is no evidence of that in the statement (though no improvement either).
"On the negative side, Power Projects order intake of 400MW is low, though management are guiding to revenue growth in [the second half] which presumably means churn is lower or pricing better than we have forecast."
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