18.11.2014

Lavendon up six

Lavendon has issued a third quarter trading statement showing rental revenues up six percent in the quarter and over the first nine months.

In the quarter the UK improved eight percent, thanks to better rental rates and a shift towards higher utilisation on larger machines, partly offset by lower overall volume. The Middle East increased 15 percent, in the face of greater competition. Germany fell a further two percent, but finally returned to revenue growth towards the end of the quarter.
France continued recent upward trends, improving nine percent, while Belgium dropped an eye watering 21 percent, although a good deal of this was due to comparison with a major project within last year’s numbers.

For the nine months year to date the trends are similar, with the UK up 10 percent, Middle East 14 percent, Germany down five percent, France up eight percent and Belgium down nine percent.

Chief executive Don Kenny said: "The Group has performed well in the first nine months of the year, with particularly strong revenue growth coming from our key UK and Middle East businesses. It is encouraging to see the growth in group revenue driving improvements in our profitability and margins, and at the same time delivering a better return on our capital employed".

"The board remains confident of delivering on its expectations for 2014, despite the foreign exchange headwinds on our overseas earnings and the continuing economic weakness in our continental European markets."

Vertikal Comment

Overall this is an encouraging set of numbers and it is good to see growth in markets like the UK coming in spite of higher rental rates. Accepting slightly lower volumes to build and hold sensible pricing is good for the industry as a whole. An hopefully sends a message to others to follow suit and obtain fair prices for the equipment and the service they offer.