HSS Hire sees first quarter growth
03 June 2014
Acquisitions and organic growth have boosted first quarter results at UK-based rental company HSS Hire, which reported a 29% year-on-year jump in revenues to £62.9 million (€77.5 million).
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 32% compared to the first three months of 2013, to £13.6 million (€16.8 million)
HSS Hire said its key and regional account customers accounted for much of the growth in revenues, with turnover from its rental business increasing 20%.
It said it also benefitted from growth through acquisitions – in the last 18 months it has acquired Abird, UK Platforms, TecServ and Apex Generators.
It said the UK Platforms and TecServ businesses together resulted in revenue growth of 11.9%, while a strong performance was also seen from ABird, which it said had benefitted from investments made in 2013 in expanding its hire fleet, increasing its depot network and the deployment of remote fleet management technology.
Meanwhile, it said its HSS OneCall business and HSS Training business also continued to deliver strong growth during the period, representing year-on-year increases in turnover of 84.9% and 14.2% respectively for the first quarter.
In terms of capital expenditure, HSS Hire spent £16.1 million (€19.8 million) during the first three months of 2014, up from £6.1 million (€7.5 million for the same period in 2013. Of this, £14.5 million (€17.9 million) was invested in rental stock, compared to £4.7 million (€5.8 million) last year.
HSS hire said it had targeted expenditure to increase the depth of the core hire fleet, as well as new branch openings and investment to meet demand in ABird and UK Platforms.
HSS hire CEO Chris Davies said, “This is a strong start to the year achieved by organic growth across all customer groups, businesses and geographies, complemented by contributions from our recent acquisitions and improving market conditions.
“We will continue to invest in our core fleet to meet rising customer demand against improving economic conditions and to promote the growth of our business throughout 2014.”
