WORLD NEWS
■
Height for Hire
has announced
that
John Ball
,
managing director,
is to resign from
the company and
pursue other business interests.
Mr Ball joined the company in
1986 when he opened its Limerick
branch and was appointed
managing director in 1993,
at which time it had three depots
in Ireland. Since then he has
overseen the company’s
expansion into mainland UK,
as Easi UpLifts, as well as the
acquisition of the SCS business
in Slovakia.
■
Riwal has
appointed
David Cagigas
to country
manager of Riwal
Spain after the
company took sole ownership of
the subsidiary from its minority
shareholders in June. At the
same time the divisions Carga,
specialising in lift trucks, and
Ecologic, electric vehicles, were
transferred to the former minority
shareholders. He previously
held senior management
positions with Lavendon Group.
PEOPLE
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
8
access
INTERNATIONAL
JULY-AUGUST 2013
Company
Currency Start date Previous Current
%
21/6/02 21/05/13 09/07/13 change
Acces Industrie
E
1.34
1.59
2.10
-24
Aichi Corporation YEN(¥)
208
553
532
-4
Ashtead Group
UK£
0.47
6.70
7.10
6
Kanamoto
YEN(¥)
-
2679
2262
-16
Lavendon
£
1.85
1.7
1.62
-5
Haulotte Group
E
9.00
6.28
6.85
10
Oshkosh Corp
US$
–
39.27
39.85
1.5
Tanfield Group
UK£
-
0.22
0.18
-18
Terex Corp
US$
23.08
33.65
28.15
-16
Ramirent
E
15.00
7.43
6.86
-8
United Rentals
US$
21.47
57.51
53.43
-7
ASI Index
100
387.15
371.92
-4
access
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21 June 2002 = 100 base
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■
Terex Corp
has lowered its profit forecasts for the year following a softening
in demand at its Construction, Material Handling & Port Solutions (MHPS) and, to
a lesser extent, Cranes divisions. Earnings per share are now expected to be in
the US$1.90 - $2.10 range compared to the previous $2.40 - $2.70 guidance.
Terex said it did not see the softening as evidence of a protracted slowdown, and it
reported continued positive replacement demand for Aerial Work Platform products
and a solid performance for Materials Processing. The sales at these divisions will
not offset the softening at the other businesses.
■
Seven Group and Carlyle said they will retain ownership of
Coates Hire
following the strategic review of the business. The owners, who each own around
46% of Coates, said that they “remain fully committed to the business and
continuing to grow” Coates Hire. The strategic review was begun in November last
year. The statement by Seven Holdings gave no reasons for the decision not to sell
the business. Companies in Australia, Japan and Malaysia had been named in the
financial press as potential buyers.
■
Spanish rental company
GAM
reduced its losses by 50% in the first quarter of
2013, with operating losses of
€
7.3 million on revenues of
€
33.3 million. Revenues
were down 13% compared to the first quarter in 2012. Sales in Spain fell by 18% to
€
20.8 million, and in Portugal were down 44% to
€
2.0 million. GAM’s international
business grew by 11% to
€
10.5 million, representing almost a third of GAM’s
business. Recurring EBITDA profits increased by 9% to 10.5 million. The company
highlighted a 29% reduction in its debts from
€
367 million to
€
261 million, at the
end of the quarter.
Haulotte has staged a spectacular two-day customer event in the
south of France.
The French manufacturer invited more than 120 customers to a
range of fine food and activities last week, including wine tasting,
a sailboat regatta and a product demonstration, based around the
sumptuous Terre Blanche hotel in Provence.
Among the products on display was a prototype of a new model,
details of which will be published later this year. Guests were also
given a demonstration of the manufacturer’s 23 m HT 23 RTJ and
HT 21 RT booms. Also on display was the range-topping 41 m HA 41
PX-NT boom and the HTL telehandler series.
Multi-rental firm buyout
of the largest aerial platform
rental companies in the UK, and
at the same time made add-on
acquisitions of rental companies
Hi-Reach in the UK and Access
Rental Gulf in Dubai.
The deal will create a combined
group with a fleet of 5500
machines, adding Hi-Reach’s
1500 units and Access Rental
Gulf ’s 400 strong fleet to AFI’s
existing 3700 platforms in the
UK. Hi-Reach had an annual
turnover of £10 million and
Access Rental Gulf was a £4
million business.
Hi-Reach’s managing director,
Paul Richards, will work with
AFI as a consultant going
forward and AFI said it would
retain the Hi-Reach brand.
The other acquired company,
Access Rental Gulf, was formed
in 2007 as a separate operation
by AFI chairman David Shipman
and AFI’s business development
director Nick Selley. It operates
in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Abu
Dhabi.
London-based Rutland
Partners, which in recent years
has also invested in Brandon Hire
and the Pizza Hut restaurant
chain, said the enterprise value of
the three transactions was around
£85 million.
Private equity company Rutland
Partners has acquired a majority
shareholding of AFI-Uplift, one
