23.11.2005

Hewden confirms nine months results

Finning International recently reported third quarter results which as we aready reported include Hewden, Europe’s largest rental company.

It reported a rise in revenue of 5.3 percent in the third quarter and 4.6 percent for the year to date, compared to 2004. This resulted in a total turnover of £226.3 million for the past nine months, showing improvements every quarter. See Finning hit new records, Nov/15th
Hewden has also recently announced a £13.8 million investment in new IT systems designed to improve the quality of customer information and services significantly and reduce transaction costs. A realignment of “back office” functions also took place in the last quarter as a result of an 18-month re-evaluation of its support services.

Brian Sherlock, Managing Director of Hewden commented: “Our strategy is to become more efficient and effective in overall business processes. We are committed to giving our customers the most convenient and cost effective one-stop shop for all their rental and related service requirements.”

Price competitiveness and pressures in the U.K. rental market continued in the third quarter of 2005 according to the company. However, rental margins showed a modest improvement with an increase in volumes which improves margins due to the relatively fixed costs associated with the rental business.