First quarter records for United Rentals and RSC

United Rentals said its first quarter results showed record levels of time utilisation, fleet growth and EBITDA profits on revenues of US$656 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%.

On the same day RSC Equipment Rental - soon to be acquired by United - reported very similar growth figures, with revenues for the quarter up 24.7% to $408 million.

United's time utilisation increased by 1.2 percentage points to 62.3%, the company's fleet grew in value by $264 million (at original cost) compared to the end of 2011, and EBITDA profits were $231 million, almost 60% up on the previous year's first quarter.

United's proposed acquisition of RSC is the subject of shareholder votes on 27 April. If the votes are positive the deal is likely to close on 30 April.

Michael Kneeland, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said, "Our performance surpassed all prior first quarters, with record time utilisation, record fleet growth, and record adjusted EBITDA, both dollars and margin. Once again, we drove profitable growth faster than the construction recovery.

"Both core areas of our business - general rentals and specialty operations - realised higher rates year-over-year on a fleet that was about $600 million larger on average. These results speak volumes about the effectiveness of our strategy and the ongoing secular shift toward renting.

United said it will invest around $1 billion gross on its rental fleet this year.

At RSC, revenue growth of 24.7% compared to the first quarter of 2011 was a record for the company. EBITDA profits also grew, up 61% to $159 million.

Erik Olsson, president and chief executive officer, said; "RSC is off to a very strong start to the year as evidenced by the highest year-over-year quarterly rental revenue growth in our history. Our business strategy and industry-leading execution delivered impressive volume growth, while at the same time generating positive year-over-year pricing."

Mr Olsson added; "I could not be more proud of how our employees have performed in this quarter, delivering strong results while dealing with the integration planning for the pending merger. Thanks to great leadership at all levels the pre-merger planning is going very well and is not being allowed to be a major distraction for us."