THE new owner of Warm Front supplier Eaga says this part of the business is set to provide strong profits growth for the business this year.

Support services giant Carillion, which paid £298.4m for Newcastle-based Eaga in the spring, said the growth in earnings was being driven by the acquisition.

Now rebranded Carillion Energy Services, the business - which remains headquartered on Tyneside - was highlighted in the group’s interim management statement.

Carillion said: “Earnings growth in 2011 is being driven primarily by the acquisition of Carillion Energy Services and by an improvement in our total operating margin, which reflects our ongoing focus on applying strict contract selectivity, financial discipline and cost management.

“Consequently, we expect year-end net debt to be below £125m, significantly better than the target we set following the £298.4m acquisition of Carillion Energy Services in April 2011 of reducing year-end net debt to below £150m.”   

Eaga has been integrated into the group’s support services division, which is responsible for around half of Carillion’s underlying profits.