Herc growth in 'key markets' counters oil & gas fall

Herc Rentals has reported a 7% fall in revenues to US$403.6 million for the quarter to 30 September, with net profits dropping to $3 million from the $20.8 million in the previous quarter.

However, after accounting for the sale of its Spanish and French business in October 2015 and excluding revenues from upstream oil and gas, Herc said its revenues had grown by 7.2%. These “key market” revenues represented 84% of its business in the quarter.

The company, which was reporting its first quarterly results since its spin-off from Hertz Corp, said it continued to see “headwinds in upstream oil and gas markets”. Its results were also impacted by one-off costs of around $10 million related to the spin-off.

"We continued to make good progress on our strategic initiatives in our first quarter as a stand-alone public company and remain confident that we are on track to achieve our long term operational and financial performance targets," said Larry Silber, president and chief executive officer.

"Of note, for the third quarter, in our key markets we achieved rental revenue growth of 7.2% and realized improved pricing of 1.8%.

Mr Silber said the rollout of Herc’s ProContractor Tools and ProSolutions programmes continued to expand and diversify its fleet “and contributed to improved pricing during the quarter.”

In addition to its core business in the USA and Canada, Herc Rentals also has rental activities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and China.