02.08.2012

H&E up 20%

Louisiana based crane and access company H&E Equipment Services has reported almost 20 percent rise in first half revenues.

Revenues for the first six months were $382.7 million, 19.5 percent higher than for the same period last year. Pre-tax profits jumped from a loss of $6.5 million last year to a $22.4 million profit this year. Revenues grew in all sectors – rental, new equipment sales, used equipment, parts and service.

Looking at the second quarter, revenues climbed 13 percent to $209 million while pre-tax profits were up fivefold to $16.65 million. Rental utilisation was up by almost two percent to 68.7 percent, while rates grew faster still. The average age of the fleet at the end of June was 40.4 months, roughly the same as last year.

Chief executive John Engquist said: “Our second quarter performance was very strong as we continued to experience solid demand in all of our end user markets, particularly in our Gulf Coast markets where energy-related activity remains very healthy. A modest recovery in commercial construction activity is also driving higher demand for rentals as the fundamentals for this segment of our business are very strong. We are approaching our prior record levels of time utilisation and our strong dollar returns allow us to continue to increase our fleet size, which as of June 30th, has surpassed our prior peak levels.”

“Based on the strong demand and improved rental pricing, we plan to further expand our fleet through the remainder of this year. Rental rates improved 11 percent from a year ago and five percent from the first quarter. New equipment sales remain difficult to predict, but bidding activity for hydraulic cranes used in the energy sector is encouraging.”

“Our second quarter performance was again solid, and we are especially pleased with our bottom line improvement. While the overall economic environment is hard to predict, the trends in the markets we serve remain positive and the momentum in our business is continuing. We are opening two new locations in Texas to expand our presence and we continue to evaluate expansion opportunities in other markets as well.”