Utilisation moves up at Coates Hire

Coates Hire in Australia has reported EBIT profits of A$119.4m for the six months ended 31 December 2021, up 14%, with revenues 6% higher at A$496 million.

An ‘on-site’ Coates Hire rental locations. (Photo: Coates)

Coates’ owner, Seven Group Holdings, highlighted a 9% increase year-on-year in average time utilisation to over 59% during the six months, “reflecting strong customer demand”.

Coates said revenue growth had been achieved across all its customer groups, with top-tier up 4.4%, mid-tier increased by 9.4% and revenue with smaller trade customers up 7.2%.

SGH confirmed net profit after tax of A$1,221 million for the period, up 235.6%, which included a gain of A$757 million linked to the acquisition of national construction materials and building products supplier Boral in the second half of 2021.

Caterpillar dealer WesTrac is set to deliver its FY22 guidance of low single digit EBIT growth. 

Ryan Stokes, SGH Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said: “We have achieved strong growth and maintained our focus on financial discipline and operational excellence in what has been a challenging environment.”

The group had “delivered on our strategy, working to support our network of business leaders,” he said. I continue to be incredibly proud of the agility demonstrated by our people as they support our customers and deliver results in demanding conditions.”

Photo: Coates Hire.

“Today’s result demonstrates the benefits of our strategy to own a diversified portfolio of high-quality businesses across varied segments of the economy.”

“We like to assess our performance on a like-for-like, continuing operations basis, but I do note that in this period we consolidated Boral following our acquisition of a 69.6% stake during 2021.

“We are excited by the opportunity Boral presents. With the company having successfully pivoted back to Australia, we are supporting management to drive financial performance and deliver margins that are commensurate with Boral’s industry-leading position.”