French renters report 9% revenue growth in third quarter

French rental companies reported a 9% increase in revenues in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, with higher utilisation being the main driver of revenue growth, reported DLR, the French association for rental companies and equipment distributors.

That level of growth is the same as in the second quarter and means that French rental revenues are now back at the same levels as in 2008, said DLR in its just-published Barometer for the third quarter.

DLR said that around half of the surveyed rental companies forecast continued good levels of demand in the final quarter of the year, with less than 5% expecting a decline in the final three months.

However, the organisation warned that there was considerable uncertainty about 2012. Although the third quarter was a positive one for many businesses, the sovereign debt crisis has begun to impact the real economy via fiscal austerity; "the French government has announced a new, multi-year plan which is among the severest in the post-war period."

In addition, said DLR, falling stock and bond markets coupled with the introduction of new standards on solvency and liquidity led French and European banks to restrict their lending; "The problems of bank financing are also rightly a central concern of members of the DLR."

DLR added that the austerity budget in 2012 "will result in lower public procurement and withdrawal of tax measures that support the sector. Rental companies and distributors of construction equipment and trucks should finish well in 2011. But it seems that 2012 promises to be more difficult."