NEW Aggreko boss Chris Weston has started his tenure at the temporary power supplier with international contract extensions in South America and Africa.
The Glasgow company said it had agreed to extend its 300 megawatt (MW) deal with Energia Argentina for a further two years.
On top of that it signed another two year deal to provide a further 150MW of diesel fuelled power for the same customer.
During negotiations for those agreements Aggreko also reached a settlement for some outstanding debt it was owed by Energia Argentina.
Aggreko had made provisions against that debt so the settlement is likely to lead to an increase in its trading profit for 2014.
As well as those developments Mr Weston confirmed a three-year extension of a 200MW gas fuelled plant in the Vridi area of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast.
The contract, awarded by the Société des Energies de Côte d'Ivoire in 2010, now also has an option for another two years.
When Aggreko first entered the Ivory Coast it was to provide 70KW of temporary power to the local grid to help alleviate blackouts and keep essential services running.
At that time it was Aggreko's largest ever gas fuelled contract.
The value of that initial contract was around £30m although it was enlarged to 100KW in 2011 then doubled the following year.
Mr Weston, who was announced as the new chief executive of the company in May last year but only joined Aggreko from Centrica on January 2, said: "It is pleasing to build on existing relationships and to have been selected to assist our customers in Argentina and Cote d'Ivoire with their on-going power needs.
"The extension of 500MW of existing contracts, for multiple years and new work in Argentina gives us positive momentum as we begin 2015."
Aggreko said orders in its power projects division, which tends to supply longer term power solutions, were 757MW in 2014.
The expansion in Argentina gives it 150MW to kick off the 2015 orders with.
There was no update given on the local business which delivers a wide array of shorter term projects including major sporting and entertainment events.
There was also no mention of what impact the falling oil price may have on its business supplying shale drillers in North America.
John Lawson from Investec described the contract renewals and extensions as a good start to the year for Aggreko and upped his 2014 profit forecast from £284 million to £291m as a result of the debt settlement.
In a note to clients Mr Lawson said: "This is a good start to the year and we expect that the stock will bounce.
"Whether any expected rally will be sustained remains to be seen, as these extensions/contract awards relate to existing accounts and there is no clue today as to whether the group is winning new work elsewhere."
Mr Lawson kept a hold rating on the stock although placed a target price of 1483p under review.
The contract news cheered investors with Aggreko shares leading the FTSE risers board during the day. The shares closed up 43p, or almost three per cent, at 1481p.
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