RentalTracker survey for Q2: confidence continues to improve

There was a marked improvement in European rental business confidence at the end of the second quarter of 2010 according to the latest ERA/IRN RentalTracker survey for Europe.

Almost a half of all respondents - over 100 companies completed the survey - reported that ‘current business conditions' were improving at the end of June and almost two thirds reporting improvements in time utilisation.

This second quarter survey is the first to have included a question about employment intentions, and again the findings are positive. Just over a third of rental companies said they expected to add staff in the third quarter of the year. Around a half will maintain current staffing levels and 11% said they would cut staff during the quarter.

In terms of equipment investment plans, there is some better news for equipment manufacturers, with 45% of companies expecting to invest more than last year and just 28% expecting to reduce spending. The positive balance of opinion here is +17%, which compares to a negative -21% balance at the end of the first quarter.

The tough operating conditions are still evident, however, when you look at the results for business levels during the first half of the year, with 41% saying that they were lower than the same period in 2009. Just under 40% said business levels were higher and 20% said activity levels were the same as last year.

It seems that while the first quarter of 2010 was very difficult - and impacted by poor weather in many countries - the second quarter has seen an improvement, with almost half reporting a better second quarter in 2010 than in 2009 and only 27% reporting a lower level of business.

Of the different rental sectors, general rental companies - who make up the majority of respondents - reported the best conditions, with the powered access renters seeing less of an improvement and crane rental companies the most likely to see deteriorating conditions.