WesternOne Inc., Canadian rental and infrastructure services company recorded CAD $88 million (about U.S. $78 million) in revenue in the third quarter, compared to $75.9 million a year ago, a 15.9-percent increase, excluding discontinued operations.
WIS, WesternOne’s infrastructure services division, including WesternOne Rentals & Sales, posted $15.8 million in Q3 revenue, with adjusted EBITDA of $3.8 million. Year-over-year revenue grew 0.6 percent, while adjusted EBITDA declined by 20.8 percent. WIS recorded additional revenue of $0.7 million from new branches in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and Terrace and Campbell River, B.C. General improvement in rental rates in some markets helped. The increase was partly offset by a decline in rental and related services and product sales revenue because of lower fleet utilization, which was caused by delayed construction project starts as a result of a prolonged winter/spring season, which led to a temporary decline in demand for aerial equipment during the summer.
WIS also incurred higher operating costs primarily relating to branch salaries and wages, property rent and fleet maintenance to support platform growth. The delays in construction project starts caused construction work to be pushed into early fall, thus management expects rental fleet utilization to return to normal levels in the fourth quarter.
Britco, WesternOne’s modular construction and rental division, posted revenue of $72.2 million and adjusted EBITDA of $4.5 million. Year-over-year revenue jumped 20 percent because of increased manufacturing output at Britco’s four facilities in western Canada and the United States, with a higher volume of onsite construction work related to the Manitoba Hydro and Devon workforce accommodation projects.
“The main markets where WesteronOne operates in are among the most solid construction and infrastructure markets in North America,” said WesternOne CEO Peter Blake. “Although our aerial equipment business temporarily slowed down in summer due primarily to weather-related factors, rental volume and fleet utilizations have since recovered and are back to normalized levels. We are pleased to see this happen in conjunction with the start of the construction heat season as winter is around the corner.”
Based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, WesternOne Rentals & Sales is No. 44 on the RER 100.
