Rental Revenue Posts Slight Uptick for Essex in Q2

Aug. 8, 2014
Equipment rental revenue increased 2.7 percent in the second quarter for Essex Crane Rental Corp., rising from $12.19 million in the second quarter of 2013 to $12.52 million this year.

Equipment rental revenue increased 2.7 percent in the second quarter for Essex Crane Rental Corp., rising from $12.19 million in the second quarter of 2013 to $12.52 million this year. Total revenues, however, dropped 2.8 percent from $25.2 million in the year-ago frame to $24.5 million in Q2 as used equipment sales and service revenue both declined.

Adjusted EBITDA, declined from $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2013 to $4.05 million this year, while losses from operations increased from $208,000 in the second quarter of 2013 to $810,000 in this year’s second quarter.

Hydraulic crawler crane utilization for the month of June was 76.7 percent, the highest monthly hydraulic crawler crane utilization level since 2008. Rough-terrain crane utilization jumped to 68.2 percent for the quarter, compared to 58.2 percent for the first quarter and 60.3 percent for the second quarter of 2013.

New CEO Nick Mathews said that strategic initiatives Essex previously announced have been the primary focus of the new management team and that the initiatives are in the early stages of implementation. However, he said “these initiatives are beginning to directly contribute to the improvement in our utilization and revenues. Strong hydraulic crawler crane order intake throughout the first half of 2014 has resulted in a 29.1 percent increase in units on rent on June 30, 2014 as compared to year-end 2013.”

Essex Crane Rental, Buffalo Grove, Ill., is No. 45 on the RER 100.