Temporary power provider APR Energy warns of 2015 loss

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By Esha Vaish

April 21 (Reuters) - APR Energy Plc (Other OTC: APRYF - news) , a provider of temporary power systems, said its 2015 net loss would be in line with or larger than market expectations, hinging on how fast it is able to redeploy equipment from Libya, where it terminated its contract.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in the company fell as much as 11 percent in early trade on Tuesday and were among the top percentage losers on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) .

Analysts polled ahead of the results expected a 2015 net loss of between $15 million and $50 million, Chief Finance Officer Lee Munro said.

APR Energy also reported a pretax loss of $723.6 million for the year ended Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) . 31 and did not pay out a dividend. It had posted a pretax profit of $27.5 million a year earlier.

The company, which rents out 25-megawatt turbines and generators to overcome short-term power shortages, said in January it had decided to quit Libya as the government there did not ratify its key contract.

The exit forced APR to renegotiate its credit facility earlier this year to avoid breaching its debt covenants.

APR took a non-cash impairment charge of $717.4 million for the year, largely against goodwill relating to Libya. It also made a provision for receivables of $47 million.

However, revenue grew 58 percent to $485.7 million, as many customers renewed their contracts and APR bagged some new ones.

"Challenges persist due to geopolitical instability, the oil price impact on government revenues, and the longer time horizon required for approval of these larger-scale projects," Jacksonville, Florida-based APR said.

Demand for temporary energy has been increasing in developing markets where utilities have been unable to keep up with fast-paced economic growth. It can take four or five years to build a permanent power plant.

However, APR's focus on emerging markets has left it exposed to geopolitical uncertainty, especially in countries such as Libya and Yemen, forcing it to issue a slew of warnings and exit certain regions.

APR shares were down 8.9 percent at 336.50 pence at 0803 GMT. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bangalore; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)