Ahern Rentals posted $250.1 million in rental revenue for 2009, a 24.1-percent year-over-year decline compared with $329.5 million in 2008. Total revenue dropped 25.5 percent from $381.6 million in 2008 to $284.3 million in 2009. Gross profit dropped from $117.3 million in 2008 to $34.6 million in 2009, a 70.5-percent dropoff, while net income was a $70.9 million loss, compared with a $6.7 million profit in 2008.
As of Dec. 31, Ahern Rentals’ rental fleet, at original cost, was $821 million and included more than 21,800 high-reach units and 17,500 general rental units.
The company said it would continue to reduce capital expenditures in 2010.
Ahern Rentals’ strategy was to redeploy fleet that had been utilized at major Las Vegas projects such as the City Center in Las Vegas, a process which occurred more quickly than Ahern Rentals management expected. With the excess fleet needing to be deployed and low prices on the used equipment market, the company developed its expansion strategy, which has, historically, always fueled Ahern Rental’s geographic expansion. In the first quarter of 2010, Ahern Rentals opened branches in Seattle and Fife, Wash.; Philadelphia; Pahrump, Nev.; and Newport News, Va., after opening 17 branches in 2009. CEO Don Ahern said the company has most likely stopped store expansion for this year as utilization has improved in the first quarter of 2010.
“We have been successful in redeploying into new branches all of the equipment that has come off rent from the City Center project since the second quarter of 2009,” Ahern said.
Ahern also grew its international sale of used equipment to Asia and Latin America.
CHO Howard Brown told a conference call that rental rates were down 15 percent for 2009, 18 percent in the fourth quarter and Ahern added that the company has yet to see rental-rate improvement in early 2010.
Time utilization of high-reach equipment in 2009 was 55 percent compared with 67 percent in 2008.
Another strategy that Ahern Rentals developed in 2009 was the formation of a National Accounts Division in April 2009. The company ended the 2009 fiscal year with more than 50 national account relationships, about 15 percent of which are serving the industrial sector.
Based in Las Vegas, Ahern Rentals is No. 7 on the RER 100.
