European rental giant Cramo posted €189 million in the second quarter compared to €178 million in the second quarter a year ago, a 6.2-percent hike. In local currency, sales grew by 9.7 percent. Organic sales growth was 6.9 percent.

EBITA was €30.1 million compared to €27.8 million in the second quarter last year, or 15.9 percent of sales.

For the first six months of the year, revenues were €364.3 million compared to €340.0 million a year ago, a 6.9-percent increase. In local currencies, sales grew 10.3 percent, and organic sales grew 8.6 percent.

During the first half, Cramo completed the acquisition of German construction site logistics company KBS Infra GmbH on Feb. 28. It also signed an agreement to acquire Sweden-based Nordic Modular Group on June 25. The acquisition is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

“We delivered a good first half year result with organic sales growth of 8.6 percent and comparable EBITA increasing by 13.9 percent to €54.1 million,” said CEO Leif Gustafsson. “The market environment has remained solid in both of our business divisions, being particularly favorable in the Modular Space business and in several Eastern and Central European countries in equipment rental. We were able to continue the positive trend in the Group’s profitability improvement and the comparable EBITA margin increased from 13.9 percent to 14.8 percent.

“The good first half year result for Equipment Rental division was again driven by the Scandinavia segment. Despite the gradual growth slowdown in the new residential construction market in the Stockholm area, sales increased by 9.3 percent in local currency in Sweden supported by large ongoing industry construction projects. We have also been capturing the good market momentum in several Eastern European and Central European countries, which showed double-digit sales growth and improved profitability. Germany and Finland did not meet our targets, as modest sales performance impacted negatively on the result. Actions are taken to improve profitability going forward.”

Gustafsson added that according to the current equipment rental market outlook, he expects stabilizing growth for the second part of the year, and a positive outlook in the modular space market.

The European Rental Association forecasts that the equipment rental market will grow in 2018 in all of Cramo’s operating countries within the scope of ERA’s forecast.

Cramo, based in Finland, has about 300 branches in 14 countries.