Aggreko says pretax profit up 43 percent

LONDON (Reuters) - Temporary power provider Aggreko (AGGK.L) said on Tuesday its first-half pretax profit rose 43 percent to 67.9 million pounds, roughly in line with analysts' expectations.

While demand is softening in North America and Europe, the company said it is seeing strong growth in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Central and South America, and expects full-year performance to exceed market expectations.

Aggreko, whose shares are up 40 percent in the past year, is expected to earn pretax profit of 157.7 million pounds this year, Reuters Estimates show.

(Reporting by Hsu Chuang Khoo; Editing by David Holmes)