Britain's Interserve wins 227 mln stg government contract

Oct (Shenzhen: 000069.SZ - news) 20 (Reuters) - British construction and services company Interserve (Frankfurt: 860509 - news) said on Friday it had won a five-year facilities management contract worth 227 million pounds ($298 million) for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), a day after the company warned it could breach its financing tests.

The company said it would provide the DWP estate with mechanical, electrical and building maintenance, along with cleaning, catering and waste disposal services to more than 700 buildings.

Interserve said on Thursday it could breach its financing tests, after a further deterioration in trading in its British construction and support services businesses in the third quarter triggered another profit warning.

The company's shares crashed more than 50 percent last month after it issued a profit warning. It said then it was looking at options to maximise cash generation from the business in the short and medium term.

Interserve has struggled with cost overruns in its energy-to-waste business and delays in a Glasgow contract. ($1 = 0.7630 pounds) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes)