Non-construction growth remains key target for Ramirent

Ramirent aims to generate 40% of its revenues through non-construction customers. The company has been steadily growing its industrial sales and reached a proportion of 32% for the first nine months of this year, up from 28% in the previous year.

The company issued the 40% target during its annual Capital Markets Day meeting in Finland last week. Other key aims include continued growth through acquisitions – it said it had 50 companies on its ‘watch list’ – and more outsourcing contracts.

The shift to non-construction customers has been underway for several years and in the first nine months of the year Ramirent revealed that these customers represented 32% of total sales. Of this, industrial sector revenues represented 15% of the total, services and retail 10%, public 4% and private 3%.

Ramirent said sectors including mining, automotive, oil and gas, metals, petrochemicals, pulp and paper, shipyards, energy, real estate and retail represented the highest priorities.

The company also used the investors day to issue updated long-term financial targets. These include return on equity (ROE) of 18% over a business cycle; net debt to EBITDA ration below 1.6x at the end of each fiscal year; and a dividend payout ratio of at least 40% of net profit.

Ramirent said the new target ROE was comparable to its previous target return on investment (ROI) figure of 18%, and the net debt to EBITDA target was also comparable to the previous gearing target of maximum 120% at the end of each fiscal year. The dividend target is unchanged.