12.05.2014

Another negative quarter for Essex

US based Essex Crane Rental has reported another disappointing quarter with lower revenues and a larger loss.

Total revenues were down over 15 percent to $21.08 million with declines in all rental, new and used sales, only spare parts sales and transport improved, The pre-tax loss for the period increased from $1.1 last year to 1.9 million this year. It was not all doom and gloom though, the crawler crane rental order backlog improved around 10 percent, utilisation Rough Terrain and tower cranes improved and the company reduced its net debt by almost $10 million.

Chief executive Nick Matthews said: "We continue to work our way back from a difficult end to 2013. We remain focused on the long-term goals and strategic initiatives in place, including reshaping our asset portfolio and repositioning the fleet, improving utilization, enhancing quality and improving customer relationships. Based on the first quarter of 2014, we continue to be optimistic regarding our outlook for the remainder of 2014."

"Coming out of our seasonal soft period, which is typically the fourth and first quarters, we have experienced stronger quoting activity on the crawler crane fleet when compared to last year and order intake has increased each month throughout the quarter. This trend has continued into April. Utilization for our hydraulic crawler cranes, while relatively flat when compared on a sequential quarterly basis, has improved each month throughout the first quarter of 2014, albeit from a low point at December 31, 2013. Rough terrain cranes and city tower cranes have experienced improved utilization on a sequential quarterly basis and revenues generated from these asset classes are approaching early 2013 levels."