Full-year rental revenues down at Finning

Finning International, Caterpillar’s largest dealer, has reported a 9% year-on-year decrease in rental revenues for 2014 to CA$358 million (€251 million).

It said the reduction was mainly due to lower volumes in Canada – a market in which it had seen strong rental demand in 2013 – along with increased competition in the short-term rental market relative to a year ago.

Finning, which operates in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, the UK and Ireland, reported overall revenues of CA$6.92 billion (€4.86 billion), down 2% compared to 2013.

Of this, sales of used equipment dropped 11% compared to 2013 to CA$271 million (€190 million), while new equipment sales stood at CA$2.89 billion (€2.02 billion), down 1% year-on-year.

Net income dropped 5% compared to 2013 to CA$318 million (€223 million).

President and CEO Scott Thomson said, “In order to maintain profitability during soft market conditions, we are taking steps to align our cost base and invested capital to reduced demand, similar to the actions we took in South America a year ago.

“As part of our efforts to reduce costs in Canada, we will reduce our workforce by about 500 employees – roughly 9% of our Canadian workforce. While this is a difficult decision, it is a necessary step to adjust to expected business levels.”