Global consultancy firm completes withdrawal but issues profit warning for second quarter

Aecom has completed its evacuation of expatriate employees and their families from strife-torn Libya, but admitted the unrest will hit company profits by 拢9.5m.

The global consultancy firm said the evacuation, completed this week, and subsequent loss of revenues, will hit company profits for the second quarter by eight cents a share. However, it said profit for the year should be unchanged at $2.25 to $2.35 a share due to continued strength in the remainder of company鈥檚 business.

Aecom has been program manager for the Libya Housing and Infrastructure Board鈥檚 program to modernise the country鈥檚 infrastructure.

The firm said in a statement: 鈥淒ue to the current uncertainty in Libya, the company cannot determine when the project will be restarted.鈥�

A source inside Aecom believed there were hundreds of employees working in Libya before the unrest, although the company was unable to confirm this.

The uprising against Colonel Gaddafi has all but shut down construction on the country鈥檚 拢36bn investment plan to 2012, and all UK firms鈥� offices were reported closed.

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