Interserve warns that higher wage bill could stall growth

(Adds CEO comment, analyst, share price)

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - British support services and construction company Interserve (LSE: IRV.L - news) expects a rise in Britain's minimum wage to hit profit next year, it said on Wednesday, sending its shares down 4 percent on the potential for growth to stall for the first time in six years.

Interserve, the activities of which range from the provision of care services for people in their own homes to building repairs at Britain's historic Sandhurst military academy, said that margins in one part of its business would be squeezed by a hit of between 10 million pounds ($15.6 million) and 15 million pounds in 2016.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in the company were down 4.1 percent at 596.8 pence at 0745 GMT.

Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, announced in July that the minimum wage would rise from 6.50 pounds to 7.20 pounds next April for workers over the age of 25.

Interserve Chief Executive Adrian Ringrose said that the company would be able to pass on the cost to customers in future years but warned that higher wages for about 10,000 cleaners would have "significant" impact on profit growth in 2016.

"It sort of pushes the pause button temporarily on our progress," Ringrose told Reuters.

For 2016 analysts had been expected Interserve to report annual earnings before interest and tax of 141 million pounds, against the 130 million pounds expected for this year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Whitman Howard analyst Stephen Rawlinson said the impact was higher than he had expected.

"That will raise quite a few eyebrows as it seems to be a very high number," he said.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by David Goodman)