Cramo, international rental company based in Vantaa, Finland, a suburb of Helsinki, posted a 38.2-percent revenue increase in 2011, posting €679.9 million (about U.S. $892 million), compared with €492.1 million in 2010. For the fourth quarter, the company jumped 31.8 percent on a year-over-year basis, posting €192.9 million (U.S. $253.1 million), compared with €146.4 million in 2010.

Organic growth accounted for 20.9 percent, Cramo said.

Full-year EBITA was €71.1 million, compared to 34.5 million in 2010, more than doubling. Full-year EBITDA jumped from €117.6 million in 2010 to €168.7 million in 2011.

Cramo said it expects moderate growth in the rental sector in 2012. The general economic uncertainly is still at a high level in Europe, but the uncertainty has not significantly affected Cramo’s business. Euroconstruct, the construction market analyst, predicted a 2-percent construction decline for Finland in 2012, while VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland predicts a growth rate of 4 percent for equipment rental in Finland. Euroconstruct expects construction in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany to grow between 2 and 6 percent in 2012, with rental also growing. It projects positive growth in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, Poland and Estonia.

“Although 2011 was a challenging year, our operations developed favorably,” said Cramo president and CEO Vesa Koivula. “At the beginning of the year, we expanded our operations in Central Europe by acquiring the Thiesen rental services company in Germany. In June we advanced our positions in Norway and Sweden through further acquisitions. Increased economic uncertainty made in necessary to shift focus from growth to profit protection during H2/2011. We cut our fleet investments and put emphasis on fleet optimization, in particular between our market areas.

“Going forward, business visibility is not very clear, however, rental is expected to remain a growth business.”

Cramo Group’s business segment consists of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia.