Flexible office space group Regus posted a 3% fall in pre-tax profits to £31.1million in the six months to June 30 after being hit by restructuring costs following its £65.6m takeover of rival MWB Business Exchange in February.

However, with the costs of the deal stripped out, underlying earnings rose 22% to £41.7m on revenues also 22% higher at £744.7m.

Regus founder and chief executive Mark Dixon, who was born in Essex where he early ventures including running sandwich, hot dog and burger buns businesses, said: “In a growing market driven by fundamental changes in the way people and businesses choose to work, we are successfully implementing our strategy.

“Our mature centres business continues to perform strongly and generate significant cash flow and we continue to find good opportunities to reinvest into the business to drive further growth.

“Over the six months our network increased by 14% to 1,605 locations, and we remain on track for at least 2,000 by the end of 2014. At the same time we maintained a firm grip on overheads, which decreased by 7% per workstation.

“Overall, whilst mindful of the macroeconomic backdrop, we remain on track to deliver our full year expectations.”