CTOS Revenue Declines Slightly, But Truck Equipment Sales Jump
Custom Truck One Source, which specializes in truck rentals and sales as well as construction equipment and cranes, posted flat total revenue numbers in the fourth quarter, with a decent increase in equipment rental numbers. Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $520.7 million, compared to $521.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Rental revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $125.5 million compared to $120.2 million in the year-ago quarter, a 4.4-percent increase.
Equipment sales in the fourth quarter totaled $359.3 million compared to $367 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a 2.1-percent decline.
Full year total revenue was $1,802.3 million compared to $1,865.1 million in 2023, a 3.4-percent decline. Rental revenue dropped from $478.9 million in 2023 to $443 million in 2024, a 7.5-percent drop. Equipment sales in 2024 totaled $1,223 million compared to $1,253.4 million in 2023, a 2.4-percent dip.
TES on the rise
CTOS predicts 2025 to be a “return to growth,” especially for its Truck & Equipment Sales segment.
“In the fourth quarter, we achieved sequential improvement in revenue, net income and Adjusted EBITDA, driven by continued strong fundamentals across our primary end markets: utility, infrastructure, rail, and telecom,” said Ryan McMonagle, CEO. “The significant improvements in our core T&D markets that we experienced in the third quarter continued into the fourth quarter, which led to noted sequential increases in rental revenue and rental asset sales within our ERS segment. For the quarter, our rental fleet saw average utilization of just under 79 percent, the highest quarter of the year and the highest since the third quarter of 2023. We ended the year with total OEC of $1.52 billion, the highest in our history, which should support our expected growth within ERS in 2025.
“TES experienced record quarterly and annual revenue, exceeding $300 million and $1 billion, respectively, for the first time, up more than 16 percent on a sequential quarterly basis and 6 percent for the full year. Anticipated seasonal trends, as well as sustained robust demand for vocational vehicles across our end markets continued to drive record performance within the TES segment in the quarter. We believe that the current pace of customer orders and our existing TES backlog are sufficient to achieve the growth we expect in the segment this year.
“We are optimistic about fiscal 2025 and believe CTOS is well-positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds driven by data center investments, manufacturing onshoring, electrification, and utility grid upgrades. We made progress reducing our inventory in the fourth quarter, with inventory declining more than $150 million, which sets us up well for 2025, as we remain focused on working capital management, free cash flow generation and de-leveraging.”
CTOS is one of the largest providers of specialty equipment, parts, tools, accessories and services to the electric utility transmission and distribution, telecommunications and rail markets in North America, with a differentiated “one-stop-shop” business model. CTOS offers its specialized equipment to a diverse customer base for the maintenance, repair, upgrade and installation of critical infrastructure assets, including electric lines, telecommunications networks and rail systems. The company's coast-to-coast rental fleet of more than 10,000 units includes aerial devices, boom trucks, cranes, digger derricks, pressure drills, stringing gear, hi-rail equipment, repair parts, tools and accessories. For more information, please visit customtruck.com.
Based in Kansas City, Mo., CTOS is No. 14 on the RER 100.
