(Reuters) - Office provider Regus Plc (>> Regus PLC) said it expected to open at least 450 business centres this year, up from its previous estimate of at least 300 new centres.

Regus, which rents out meeting rooms, business lounges and offices, said the expansion would push up costs, cutting its full-year results.

Shares in the company fell as much as 4.6 percent, making the stock one of the top percentage losers on the FTSE-250 Mid Cap Index <.FTMC> on the London Stock Exchange.

The company has been rapidly expanding its properties to meet increased demand from technology clients.

However, analysts have warned that an accelerated opening of new centres would inflate costs and rapidly increase net debt, depressing earnings in the short term.

The new centres take 16 to 18 months to break even and about two years to be fully established, said Regus, which leases to clients such as Google Inc (>> Google Inc) and Toshiba Corp (>> Toshiba Corp).

Investec analyst Andrew Gibb lowered his forecast for full-year 2014 earnings per share by 34.3 percent to 6.9 pence, citing costs associated with new openings, higher interest charge and the impact of currency fluctuations.

Strong demand at its established centres drove up Regus' first-half revenue by 8.1 percent to 804.7 million pounds. Excluding the adverse effect of a rising British pound, revenue grew by 16.9 percent.

Pretax profit fell marginally to 31 million pounds in the six months ended June 30.

Regus said the strength of the pound would hurt its reported results for the full year.

The pound rose more than 3.3 percent against the dollar in the first six months of the year. United Kingdom and Ireland accounted for only 14 percent of the revenue the company made from established centres last year.

At Regus' established centres, revenue per occupied workstation - a key metric - jumped 2.3 percent to 3,523 pounds at constant currency during the half year. Occupancy increased to 82 percent from 81.1 percent.

With 'on-the-go' working options gaining popularity, Regus has begun to offer offices set up inside cars and cubicle-sized workboxes at railway stations and libraries.

The company, founded by billionaire Mark Dixon, raised its interim dividend to 1.25 pence per share from 1.1 pence a year-ago.

Luxembourg-based Regus' shares were down 2.3 percent at 192 pence at 08:25 AM BST.

(Reporting by Esha Vaish; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Rodney Joyce)

Stocks treated in this article : Google Inc, Toshiba Corp, Regus PLC