Lavendon Group, a leading United Kingdom-based aerial equipment rental company, said, in a trading update, that it expects full-year results at the upper end of the expectations of the company’s board. Lavendon said both total and rental revenues for the year ended Dec. 31 increased 4 percent, the same increase as the fourth quarter.
The highest growth for Lavendon came from the Middle East, with a 35-percent rental revenue spike, 41 percent in the fourth quarter, with particular strength in Saudi Arabia. Lavendon invested strongly in the region during the fourth quarter.
Fourth-quarter U.K. revenues recovered from the decline in the previous quarter, the company said, leading to essentially flat revenues for the year as a whole. Revenues in Germany declined 6 percent year over year, with a 10-percent plunge in the fourth quarter. France posted a 17-percent increase in rental revenue for the year, with a 14-percent fourth-quarter climb. Belgium grew 1 percent for the year, while dropping 4 percent in the fourth quarter.
“The Group has continued to make good progress in 2012, despite the challenging trading conditions in many of our European markets,” said Don Kenny, Lavendon Group’s chief executive. “The encouraging growth we are seeing in our French and Middle East businesses, together with the actions we have taken to improve our overall operational and capital efficiencies are delivering improvements in the Group’s profitability, margins and ROCE.”
Lavendon is based in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, U.K.
