Photo by Michael Roth, RER
A poster on the wall at Battlefield Equipment Rental's Brantford, Ontario, branch.
A poster on the wall at Battlefield Equipment Rental's Brantford, Ontario, branch.
A poster on the wall at Battlefield Equipment Rental's Brantford, Ontario, branch.
A poster on the wall at Battlefield Equipment Rental's Brantford, Ontario, branch.
A poster on the wall at Battlefield Equipment Rental's Brantford, Ontario, branch.

With Help from Acquisition, Toromont Posts 54-Percent Third Quarter Hike

Nov. 7, 2018
Eastern Canadian Caterpillar dealer Toromont posted CDN $900.1 million in third quarter revenue compared to $584.2 million in the third quarter of 2017, a 54-percent leap, including the operations of the October 2017 acquisition of Quebec-based Cat dealer Hewitt.

Eastern Canadian Caterpillar dealer Toromont posted CDN $900.1 million in third quarter revenue compared to $584.2 million in the third quarter of 2017, a 54-percent leap, including the operations of the October 2017 acquisition of Quebec-based Cat dealer Hewitt.

The transaction expanded Toromont’s operations to include the Caterpillar dealerships for Quebec, the Maritime Provinces and Western Labrador as well as the MCFA lift truck dealership for Quebec and Ontario.

Revenues of Toromont’s Equipment Group were $800.1 million in the quarter, a 64-percent year-over-year hike. Legacy Toromont revenues were down 2 percent in the quarter as higher rentals and product support were more than offset by lower equipment sales. The newly acquired business (Toromont QM) contributed $322.5 million in the quarter, reflecting an increase of 20 percent from revenues achieved at the predecessor organization in the third quarter of 2017, with growth across most lines of the business.

“We have considerable work to complete to unlock the significant value of the TQM acquisitions, but remain pleased with the integration and transition progress and with the earnings accretion over the relatively short timeline since the transaction closing,” said Scott Medhurst, president and CEO of Toromont Industries. “The team has embraced the sharing of best practices including key operational and financial disciplines, to further strengthen our position as a world class dealership. Overall the company delivered good results in the third quarter on solid execution in the legacy Equipment Group together with the incremental contribution from the acquired businesses.”

For the first nine months of 2018, Toromont revenues were $2.538 billion compared to $1.527 billion a year ago, a 66.2-percent increase.

Toromont’s refrigeration business CIMCO increased revenues 4 percent to $100 million in the third quarter.

Toromont’s total area for its Caterpillar business now spans Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, as well as most of the territory of Nunavut. Its rental operations, Battlefield Equipment Rentals, is No. 14 on the RER 100.