10.05.2012

Ramirent jumps 22%

Finnish based international rental company Ramirent has reported a strong improvement in the first quarter.

Total revenues jumped 22.3 percent to £164.3 million with growth in all of the company’s regions except Europe Central which slipped eight percent, from €14.4 million last year to €13.3 million this year. The company also turned last year’s first quarter loss of €157,000 into a profit this year of €10.67 million.

All regions except Europe Central also improved their profitability, although Denmark and Europe East did not quite reach breakeven point.
Capital expenditure in the period was €35.7 million, compared to €31.7 million in the same period last year.

Chief executive Magnus Rosén said: “Demand continued to be on a good level although January to March is typically the quietest time of the year for our business. Activity levels continued to recover fuelled by high construction activity in all our segments except for Europe Central. Equipment utilisation rates were stable or increasing in most product groups which supported a good price development.”

“While the year started strongly, there are still major uncertainties relating to general growth prospects in the economy, and these uncertainties may adversely affect the demand for rental products and services in the second half of the year. Due to the prevailing state of the markets, the visibility is low. We continue to carefully monitor the development of our market environment and maintain a high preparedness to act upon possible changes in market conditions.”

“Our priority during 2012 is to be cautious in capital expenditure spending, to have a strict cost control and to maintain a strong balance sheet. On top of this, we are continuing to develop our product portfolio to provide integrated solutions that simplify business for our customers and cater to their needs in the areas of eco-efficiency and safety.”

Vertikal Comment

This is a surprisingly strong performance from Ramirent and even where the story is negative it is not too bad, such as Europe Central where fellow Finn Cramo also suffered badly in the first quarter due to this year's extreme cold. Rami however was luckier – in the short term - having not just made a massive acquisition in the region, sales were down just over a million - but it all flowed through to the bottom line causing a substantial loss of €2.2 million.

However the company as a whole performed exceptionally well and more than compensated, Rami is back ahead of its local rival in terms of both total revenues and profits. All in all a very good result, it will be interesting to see if it can maintain this sort of growth in the second quarter, if so it looks set to have a very good year, barring any disasters of course.