Serviced office provider IWG's full-year profit falls 12 percent

(Reuters) - Serviced office provider IWG Plc reported a 12 percent fall in full-year profit on Tuesday, hurt by weaker demand in its "mature" centres in London.

IWG, which rents out meeting rooms, business lounges and office space under the Regus brand, said operating profit fell to 163.2 million pounds in the year ended Dec. 31, 2017, from 185.2 million pounds a year earlier.

Revenue from the company's so-called mature centres, which are owned for at least a year and account for over 90 percent of the total revenue, fell 1.2 percent to 2.16 billion pounds.

Although mature buildings revenue returned to growth in the fourth quarter, a 1.8 percent revenue drop in the business in the third quarter hurt the full-year results.

Full-year revenue from the mature business in the UK declined 2.9 percent to 398.2 million pounds.

"Mature business showed positive 0.5 percent revenue growth in Q4 2017, at constant currency, with the growth rate accelerating throughout the quarter, which provides a good starting point for 2018," IWG said in a statement.

IWG management is expected to continue investing to drive growth in the short term, Investec analysts said in a note, lowering their 2018/2019 earnings forecast for the company.

IWG, which raised 2017 dividend by 12 percent to 5.7 pence, said total revenue rose 5.3 percent to 2.35 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Esha Vaish and Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Amrutha Gayathri)