SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — RSC Equipment Rental achieved the highest operating profit in the company's history in the third quarter, substantially growing rental revenue and improving return on operating capital.

Total revenue for RSC in the third quarter was $404 million, a 7 percent year-over-year gain from $377 million in last year's third quarter. Most of the growth came from rate and volume improvements in equipment rental, which increased by 13 percent year over year. Rental fleet utilization improved from 70 percent in last year's third quarter to 72 percent this year.

Operating profit rose to $104 million in the third quarter, the company's highest ever and a 32-percent increase over the same quarter last year, marking RSC's tenth consecutive quarter-over-quarter increase in operating profit. Total operating costs for the third quarter were only slightly higher than the previous year, in spite of the volume growth and a $2.5 million reserve taken for costs related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

EBITDA improved to 43 percent from 37 percent in 2004, and return on operating capital employed increased in the quarter to 24 percent from 16 percent in the same period last year, a 50 percent increase. Operating profit was 25.6 percent.

Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., RSC Equipment Rental is a company within the Atlas Copco Group, which is based in Stockholm, Sweden. RSC is No. 2 on the RER 100.