06.05.2009

H&E drops 24%

H&E Equipment, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana based crane, access and earthmoving sales and rental company has reported first quarter revenues of $186 million, 24 down on the same period last year.

New equipment sales remained fairly buoyant, falling by less than 16 percent to $64 million, while rental dropped 22 percent to $55.4 million. The largest fall was in used equipment sales which were down 60 percent to just $16 million.

In spite of the significant fall in revenues, the company still reported a profit of $3.1 million, although this is over 80 percent down on the first quarter 2008.


John Engquist, H&E’s president and chief executive officer said: “We achieved significant progress during the quarter to scale our business and to adapt to the current market conditions, including a 16.1 percent decrease in selling, general and administrative costs compared to a year ago. We continue to downsize our fleet and operations based on current demand and the anticipation that the environment persists for the remainder of the year. The first quarter is historically our softest period of the year. In view of seasonality, combined with the substantial economic pressure, we are pleased with our performance.”