13.06.2024

Sales and profit boost for Ainscough

UK based rental company Ainscough Crane Hire has published its full year financial results, achieving its the first profitable year since 2018.

Revenues for the year to the end of September increased 21 percent over the prior year to £116.8 million with a pre-tax profit of £7.6 million, compared to a pre-tax loss in 2022 of £3.1 million. We have yet to see the full accounts, when they are posted we will update this item if there is anything more to add.

The company statement said: “The revenue growth reflects improved market conditions, particularly for infrastructure activity, combined with increased hire rates and cost controls which helped to partially off-set the inflationary cost environment across the UK economy.”

Chief executive Peter Gibbs added: “Following a number of challenging years for Ainscough, and the industry as a whole, it is pleasing to see a return to profitability despite the cost inflation pressures that we have all experienced. It confirms my belief that a sustainable, safety-led approach to lifting is something that is valued by our customer base and we are proud to lead in these areas.”

Vertikal Comment

No matter how you look at it this a very good result for Ainscough and hopefully also reflects well on the state of and potential for the entire UK crane industry.

Looking at the longer term revenue trend this year represents a growth of 57 percent over the past four years, although during that period the pre-tax losses amounted to a grand total of £11.8 million. If the company repeats or improves on the latest results, it will be nicely back in the black for the five year period.

In case you ask Peter Gibbs took over as chief executive in 2020, having joined the company as chief operating in April 2018.