Global Airport News

British environmental consultancy RPS Group Plc eported a flat first-half pretax profit as overall pace of investment in new projects slowed at its energy segment during the second quarter, but raised interim dividend by 15 percent.

RPS, which advises on projects such as airport expansions and new nuclear installations, said on Thursday it expected pricing pressure and delays on some of its projects until economic prospects become clearer.

"Private sector clients remained cautious and cost conscious when making specific project investment decisions," RPS said in a statement.

RPS, however, said it won a significant volume of new business in the first half, and the steps taken to deal with the economic downturn enabled it to maintain its level of profitability in this period.

For the first-half ended June, the company posted a pretax profit of 27.5 million pounds ($45 million), compared with 27.4 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue fell 2 percent to 221.5 million pounds.

RPS, which lifted its interim dividend by 15 percent to 2.01 pence, said it raised its committed bank facilities, which do not expire until 2013, to 125 million pounds from 100 million pounds.