Maxim Crane increased its total revenue from $403.6 million in 2000 to $420.1 million in 2001, according to documents the company filed with the Securities Exchange Commission last week. Rental revenue increased year over year from $366 million to $395.4. However, the company lost money for the fourth consecutive year, with a net loss of $42.2 million, up from $7.1 million, $15.7 million, and $19.7 for fiscal years 1998-2000.
The company's EBITDA was $100.2 million, down from $121.1 million year over year. Gross profit from equipment rentals decreased $17.1 million, or 12.4 percent, to $120.3 million for 2001, compared to $137.4 million for 2000. As a percent of equipment rental revenues, gross profit from equipment rentals decreased from 37.5 percent to 30.5 percent year over year. The company attributed the decrease in gross profit margins to increased operating costs, higher depreciation expense on rental equipment and decreases in equipment utilization and soft industrial markets.
The Pittsburgh-based crane and aerial specialist is No. 7 on the RER 100. Maxim has 45 rental locations providing services to more than 10,000 customers in 48 states and the Caribbean, owning about 4,000 lift units ranging from 1,000-ton mobile cranes to two-person aerial work platforms. In 2001, about 50 percent of the company's rental revenues were from industrial customers, with the other half primarily from commercial construction entities.
