Strong 2015 continues for United Rentals

US-based United Rentals – the largest rental company in the world by revenues – has reported growth in its third quarter and nine month results, fuelled by a continued recovery in North American rental markets.

The company reported third quarter revenues of US$1.54 billion (€1.21 billion), of which rental revenues stood at US$1.32 billion (€1.03 billion), up from US$1.31 billion (€1.03 billion) and US$1.14 (€893 million) billion, respectively, for the same three months last year.

Third quarter net income totaled US$192 million (€150 million), up from US$143 million (€112 million) in 2013.

United Rentals said that, within rental revenues, owned equipment rental revenues increased 15.4%, reflecting year-over-year increases of 9.5% in the volume of equipment on rent and 4.7% in rental rates.

It said time utilisation increased 70 basis points year-over-year to 71.5%, while it generated US$140 million (€110 million) from used equipment sales during the third quarter, up from US$102 million (€79.9 million) a year ago.

And for the 12 months to the end of September this year, United Rentals said return on invested capital stood at 8.4%, up 1.3 percentage points from the same 12 month period a year ago.

On track

CEO Michael Kneeland said the third quarter provided further confirmation that the company’s strategy and the North American construction recovery were both solidly on track.

“Our end markets are continuing to rally, creating numerous opportunities for well-managed, profitable growth. While we reported very strong results, we believe they reflect just a fraction of what our company can achieve over multiple years in the forecasted upcycle.

“More immediately, we believe that the current uncertainty in the financial markets relates to global concerns, and not North America. We'll continue to take the actions that drive returns over time, including rigorous fleet management, the expansion of our specialty rental lines, and transformational measures for greater productivity," he said.

Nine-month figures

For the nine months to the end of September, 2014, United Rentals reported revenues of US$4.12 billion (€3.23 billion) and rental revenues of US$3.49 billion (€2.73 billion), compared with US$3.62 billion (€2.83 billion) and US$3.06 billion (€2.40 billion) last year.

The company reaffirmed its outlook for a full-year increase in rental rates of approximately 4.5%, and full year total revenue in a range of US$5.55 billion (€4.35 billion) to US$5.65 billion (€4.43 billion).

Full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation are still expected to reach between US$2.65 billion (€2.08 billion) and US$2.7 billion (€2.1 billion).

Finally, it reaffirmed its full-year time utilisation forecast of approximately 68.5%, and also reaffirmed its outlook for full year net rental capital expenditures of approximately US$1.2 billion (€940 million).