CHERTSEY, U.K., May 7, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Regus plc (LSE:RGU) (Nasdaq:REGS), the global serviced office provider, announces its preliminary results for the three months ended March 31, 2002.
Announcing the results, Chairman George Gray commented: "During the quarter, we intensified our focus on pricing, occupancy and cost and the fundamentals of our business. Recently, we have begun to see some modest stabilization in price, especially in the U.S. Despite this, we remain committed to further reducing our cost base. We continue to cut overheads and fixed costs are being re-negotiated.
"We have a record number of customers in our centers. We remain cash positive at the operating level. Our strategy of growth through franchising and management contracts has led to new business in Europe and the U.S. In Scotland, we signed a milestone management contract agreement with the U.K.'s top property owner Land Securities.
"The impact of the economic downturn is driving more and more organizations, corporates and governments, to use Regus for the cost-effective outsourcing of their office requirements. This has been demonstrated by the landmark 100 million pounds global outsourcing deal with Nokia as well as more than 35 million pounds of other outsourcing business booked during this quarter.
"In line with Regus' policy of discounting price for term, many of these deals are for longer periods of time and will therefore add even more strength to our contracted forward order book rather than have an immediate impact on revenues.
"As expected, 2002 is proving to be a challenging year for the global economy. Regus is prepared to meet the challenges head-on."
To view entire release with key financials and tables included. Please click on the link: http://reports.huginonline.com/858475/103327.pdf
THE "SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE U.S. PRIVATE SECURITIES REFORM ACT OF 1995
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the serviced office market, the long-term nature of the company's lease commitments, its growth ambitions, foreign exchange and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the Annual Report Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.