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■
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IRN
will be available shortly after
publication on KHL.com – go to
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IRN
to see the latest recordingaswell as thearchive.
■
Power rental companyAPR Energy
has said there can be no certainty
that it can secure government
approvals needed to restart a
450MW project it has been forced to
suspend in Libya. In November 2014,
the company suspended operations
in thecountryawaitingparliamentary
ratification of a gas turbine and
diesel module power contract – one
of its largest projects. It said the
suspension would have a material
adverse impact on its 2014 financial
performance, with a charge of up to
US$40million (€32.8million)expected
asa result.
■
Finnish rental company Ramirent
has issued amoredownbeat full-year
2014 outlook, and said it expected to
be hit by €4 million in restructuring
costs due to geopolitical uncertainty
combined with a rapidly declining
oil price. President and CEO Magnus
Rosén said, “Restructuring measures
andwrite-downsareexpected tohave
a €4millionnegative effect on fourth
quarter 2014earningsbefore interest,
taxesandamortisation (EBITA).”
■
Equipment rental company and
dealer Titan Machinery saw revenue
from rental increase 7.69% year-on-
year toUS$26.6million (€22.6million).
However, overall third quarter
revenue declined 16.1% to US$493.1
million (€420 million). Chairman and
CEO David Meyer said the decline
was mostly due to the agricultural
side of business for Titan. “For our
construction segment, we reported
another quarter of improved financial
results, including same-store sales
growth over 10%, higher equipment
margins and an improvement in pre-
tax income,”he said.
■
UK-headquartered rental company
Ashtead Group, the parent of Sunbelt
and A-Plant, said it forecast full-year
2014 results to exceed its previous
expectations after reporting a
strong first half. The company said
underlying rental revenues for the
six months ended 31 October, 2014,
were up 24% year-on-year to £896
million (€1.13 billion), while underlying
operating profit jumped 34% to £295
million (€373million).
■
JCB will launch a range of 1 to
10 tonne capacity site dumpers
in February thanks to a new OEM
supply agreement with Terex. The
manufacturer said the range would
comprise 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 6, 9 and 10 tonne
capacity machines available from JCB
dealers from February 2015 and to be
progressively rolled out to JCB dealers
around the world. The official launch
will be at the 2015 Executive Hire
Show in Coventry, UK in February. The
dumpers are being manufactured in
theUKonJCB’sbehalf byTerexGB.
■
KobelcoConstructionMachineryhas
announced plans to build an excavator
factory in Spartanburg, SouthCarolina,
US. Site preparation is due to start in
April and the firstmachines are due to
beproduced inJanuary2016. Themove
follows the dissolution of Kobelco’s
10-year joint venture with CNH at
the end of 2012. Kobelco re-entered
the US market on its own in 2013,
selling machines built at its factory
in Itsukaichi, Japan, through a newly
appointeddealernetwork.
■
Safety at height specialist
XSPlatforms will open four new offices
in the first half of 2015. The company
said the expansion was a result of
increased demand for its products in
Asia, the Middle East and Australia. In
Asia there will be new offices in the
company’s two largest markets – India
and China. Meanwhile, an office will
also be opened in Kuwait, in addition
toXSPlatforms’ existingoffices inDubai
andQatar. Anadditional newAustralian
office will be XSPlatforms’ first in that
continent.
■
Construction output in Germany
rose towards the end of 2014, but at a
reduced rate, according to the Markit
Price Manager’s Index (PMI). The study
revealed that levels of new orders
had declined, as companies looked
to reduce their employee base amid
a challenging European economic
backdrop.Whiletherewereencouraging
results from the homebuilding sector,
a rise in inflation contributed to
purchasing activity within the overall
market being unchanged since
November. The performance rating
index level was 50.5, down from53.5 in
November (50points indicatesgrowth).
■
By 2014, the construction market
in Eastern European was estimated to
havea20%shareof the total European
market in financial terms, with around
€300billion spent on construction. The
EECFA said that in the last 10 years,
the region had managed to double its
share. Almost uninterrupted growth in
the two biggest markets, Russia and
Turkey, was said to have contributed
at one end, with a shrinking overall
market in Western and Central Europe
since2009, at theother end.
■
Construction spending in the US
was up 3.3% in the 12 months to the
end of October, compared to the
same time last year, at US$971 billion
(€827 billion). This was a 1.1% increase
from the 12-month rolling total to the
end of September. The year-on-year
increasewasdrivenby theprivatenon-
residential sector, which was up 6.4%
compared to a year ago. However, this
component of construction was down
1.0%compared to thepreviousmonth.
News from khl.com
rental
Official magazine of the ERA
NEWS
INTERVIEW:
HorizonEquipment,China
p10
LATAM40:
LatinAmerica’s
rental leaders
p16
Rental
software
p26
Compaction
p20
INSIDE: ERA/
IRN
RENTALTRACKER, THE RENTAL SHOW, EHS, INTERMAT
Volume 15 Issue 1 January-February 2015
INTERNATIONAL
A KHL Group Publication
IRN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015
RENTAL ROUND-UP
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