NEWS
8
IRN SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013
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Rental information from
IRN
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IRN
provides rental news and information in a variety of formats:
■
Longer versions of these stories, plus hundreds of
others, can be found at
The site has
dedicated sector pages for Rental, Construction, Access,
Cranes and Demolition.
■
Ashtead Group, which owns
US-based Sunbelt Rentals and
A-Plant in the UK, continued its
climb with record first quarter pre-
tax profits of £99 million, up 59%
on the same period last year. Group
revenue increased 26% to £411
million in the quarter, which ended
31 July. Sunbelt was the main driver
of group performance, with revenues
growing by 25% to US$479 million,
thanks to a 17% increase in average
fleet on rent and 6% improvement
in yield. A-Plant delivered rental
revenue growth of 35% to £61
million, with growth of 12% excluding
acquisitions, mainly reflecting more
fleet on rent.
■
Cramo said the uncertain market
conditions meant that it was unable
to give guidance on its full year
sales although it forecast that EBITA
profits for the year were likely to
improve. The company’s second
quarter saw pre-tax profits rise
64.7% to €10.1 million on broadly flat
revenues of €160.1 million. Its fastest
growing territory was Germany,
which saw a 12.2% increase in
revenues to €20.5 million after a
slow first quarter.
■
Vp plc has expanded its
Groundforce trenching and shoring
division by acquiring Mr Cropper Ltd,
a company that rents pile cropping
machines. The price was £4.6 million
(€5.5 million).
■
United Rentals has opened three
new power and climate control
locations to add to its specialist
rentals business. The company
aims to open a total of 18 specialty
locations this year.
■
Sergio Kariya, managing director
of Mills Estruturas e Serviços de
Engenharia’s rental divison, said the
access equipment sector in Brazil will
grow for the next 10 years, despite a
more difficult economic situation. He
told
Access International
magazine
that such was the need for powered
access equipment in Brazil, where
Mills is based, that big rental
companies would continue to invest.
MANUFACTURERS
■
Manitou Group saw a 12% decline
in revenue for the first half of 2013,
compared to the same period in
2012. Net profits stood at €1 million,
compared to €21 million the previous
year. But there was positive news in
net debt, which dropped significantly
from €147 million in the first half of
2012 to €56 million.
■
Caterpillar revised its outlook for
2013 after reporting a drop in revenues
and net profit for the second quarter
thanks to declining dealer inventories.
Revenues fell to US$14.6 billion for the
three months to the end of June, down
from $17.4 million a year ago. Net profit
slipped to $960 million, compared to
$1.7 billion in 2012 second quarter of.
■
Volvo CE’s Chinese joint venture
company, Shandong Lingong
Construction Machinery (SDLG), has
opened its first production facility
outside China. Manufacturing has
started at its excavator factory in
Brazil – a US$10 million assembly
hall within the Volvo CE facility in
Pederneiras, São Paulo. SDLG offers
a competitively priced alternative to
Volvo-branded machines.
■
Haulotte Group reported a 1.5%
increase in revenues to €187.2 million
for the first half of 2013 and operating
profits were €17.7 million, including
one-off gains of €10.6 million largely
comprising an €8.5 million profit on
the sale of the UK Platforms rental
business in the UK in late June. Net
profits were €11.9 million.
■
Wacker Neuson reported a 5%
year-on-year increase in revenues
RENTAL ROUND-UP
MARKETS
■
The global construction equipment
market will see average annual
growth of 6% between 2012 and 2017,
according to a new report frommarket
research company The Freedonia
Group. This will see the value of the
sector rise from US$142 billion in 2012
to $189 billion in 2017.
■
US exports of construction
equipment were down 21% in the
first half of the year, according to the
US-based Association of Equipment
Manufacturers (AEM). The value of
machines shipped stood at US$10.8
billion to the end of June this year,
compared to $13.7 billion for the
first six months of 2012. Exports to
Central America saw a 15% increase,
but all other regions of the world
experienced double-digit declines.
Sales to Europe were down 20% to
$1.4 billion, Asia was down 24% to $1.2
billion and South America dropped
13% to $1.9 billion.
■
Some RUB664 billion (€15.1 billion)
is expected to be spent in Russia over
the next five years in preparation
for the 2018 FIFA football World Cup.
This money will come from federal
and regional government as well as
through private investors, according
to a report from research company
PMR.
■
A forecast from the UK’s
Construction Products Association
(CPA) has pointed to recovery in the
construction industry starting in 2014
and continuing through 2015 and
beyond. The latest figures predicted
construction output growth of 2.2% in
2014 and 4.5% in 2015.
for the first six months of 2013 to
€586.1 million, but net profit fell
nearly 20% to €24.9 million. The
company said strong second quarter
results were offset by a weaker first
quarter.
■
Revenues at CNH Construction fell
6% in the second quarter of the year
to US$939 million, compared to the
same period last year. The division’s
operating profit was down to $12
million, from $17 million.
News from khl.com
INTERNATIONAL
rental
ALSO INSIDE: RENTAL PRICING STRATEGIES & KEVIN APPLETON COLUMN
Official magazine of the ERA
A KHL Group Publication
Volume 13 Issue 6
September-October 2013
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Guide to the 1st
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on 14October
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IRN09-102013Cover-MP-EDITED.indd 1
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