WS Atkins warns Brexit would limit UK's access to top engineers

By Esha Vaish

(Reuters) - WS Atkins Plc (ATKW.L), a British engineering and design consultancy, warned on Thursday that a vote next week by Britons to leave the European Union would restrict its ability to hire top engineers.

"The fact that we source talent from the best universities in continental Europe is to the benefit of the UK economy because they help us to design infrastructure in the country," Atkins' Chief Executive Uwe Krueger told Reuters.

"The area where we look with concern is the availability of talent," he said via telephone after Atkins beat estimates with a 14 percent rise in full-year profit.

Atkins, which employs more than 18,000 people globally, hired 400 graduates in the full year to March 31 and says it is the largest recruiter of young engineers in Britain.

Supporters of the 'In' campaign have said a leave vote would limit the UK's access to EU talent by restricting free movement of labour. Campaigners in favour of leaving the bloc say an exit would free employers from red tape.

Recent opinion polls have shown momentum swinging towards a "leave" vote. Other companies, including engineering group Rolls-Royce (RR.L), have in recent days warned of the negative impact of leaving.

Atkins, which counts BP (BP.L) and Network Rail [NETRA.UL] among its clients, posted higher full-year underlying pretax profit of 139 million pounds ($197 million), with at least three analysts highlighting a better-than-expected performance in the Middle East and Europe.

The Middle East business benefited from metro projects and a contract in Qatar to co-ordinate transport and infrastructure development, including some work for the 2022 World Cup. Atkins said its Scandinavia business also performed well.

Revenue grew 6 percent to 1.86 billion pounds, ahead of expectations of 1.83 billion pounds.

In the Middle East, which accounted for about 13 percent of the company's sales, revenue grew 14.6 percent. Revenue grew 4.4 percent across UK and Europe, from where Atkins gets just over half of its revenue.

Atkins shares were up 3.6 percent at 1,246 pence at 0923 GMT, among London's top midcap gainers (.FTMC).

(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair and Alexander Smith)