United Rentals reported second-quarter 2007 continuing operations diluted earnings per share of $0.60, an increase of 11 percent compared with $0.54 for the second quarter 2006. Income from continuing operations increased 14 percent year over year to $67 million, up from $59 million in Q206. Total revenues of $966 million for the quarter jumped 5 percent from $919 million last year, while rental revenue increased 4.8 percent from $630 million in the second quarter of last year to $660 million in the same period this year.
The size of the rental fleet, as measured by original equipment cost, was $4.3 billion with an average age of 37 months as of June 30, compared with $3.9 billion and 39 months at year-end 2006 and $4 billion and 38 months at the end of last year's second quarter.
Hertz Global Holdings said its second-quarter profit rose because of a vacation-policy adjustment. Net income jumped to $83.7 million, 26 cents per share, compared to $17.8 million or 8 cents per share for the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter increased to $2.18 billion, with worldwide equipment rental sales rising 3 percent to $433 million.
Oshkosh Truck Corp., parent company of JLG Industries and a leading manufacturer of specialty vehicles and vehicle bodies, reported third-quarter fiscal earnings per share of $1.21 on sales of $1.85 billion and net income of $90.6 million. These results compare with EPS of $0.72 on sales of $887.9 million and net income of $53.4 million for last year's third quarter.
Sales in the fiscal third quarter more than doubled, jumping 108.1 percent compared with the fiscal third quarter of 2006. Recently acquired JLG contributed $873.8 million in third-quarter sales. Operating income leaped 133.2 percent to $192.7 million or 10.4 percent of sales, while JLG contributed operating income of $98.3 million.
H&E Equipment Services posted a record 15.1-percent second-quarter revenue increase to $233.1 million, compared to $202.5 million in last year's second quarter. EBITDA increased 2.5 percent to $57.6 million compared to $56.2 million for the year-ago period.
Equipment rental revenues for the quarter jumped 8.7 percent from $64 million in last year's period to $69.6 million. At the end of the second quarter of 2007, the original acquisition cost of the rental fleet was $678.1 million, compared to $614.3 million at the end of last year's Q2. Dollar utilization was 41.5 percent, compared to 42.2 percent in the same period last year.
H&E is now expecting 2007 earnings per share of $1.59 to $1.67, down from previous expectations in the range of $1.63 to $1.85. It raised its revenue guidance to the $935 to $953 million range from $900 to $920 million, but lowered EBITDA expectations to $233 to $240 million from $232 to $245 million.
Finning International reported CD $1.5 billion (about U.S. $1.41 billion) in revenue for the second quarter of 2007, a 25.7-percent increase over the second quarter of 2006. Earnings from continuing operations before interest and taxes were CD $123.1 million in the second quarter, a 39.6-percent jump from last year's second quarter total of $88.2 million. Second-quarter net income from continuing operations was $75.3 million or $0.42 per diluted share, a 35.5-percent year-over-year leap.
Canadian equipment rental revenue was CD $68.6 million, compared with $55.5 million for the same period last year.
Ahern Rentals second-quarter revenues increased 30 percent from $63.3 million in the second quarter of 2006 to $82.2 million in the period ended June 30. Equipment rentals jumped 24 percent from $56.4 million in Q206 to $70 million in this year's second quarter. Same-branch revenues increased 19 percent year over year for the second quarter, a 10.8-percent hike, and an additional $2.9 million in revenue came from branches that were not yet open in 2006.
For the first six months of 2007, total revenue jumped from $118.9 million to $153.4 million, a 29-percent year-over-year hike. Rental volume for the six-month period increased from $105.9 million in 2006 to $133.6 million in 2007, an increase of 26.1 percent.
Wacker Construction Equipment AG reported that results for the first half of fiscal 2007 align with budgetary targets, with group sales up 8.1 percent compared with the previous year. The company is expecting further sales and profit growth over the current fiscal year after the merger with Neuson Kramer Baumaschinen AG, based in Linz, Austria, goes ahead this summer.
Wacker's first-half sales were €341.7 million (about U.S. $459 million). Organic growth accounted for 7.4 percent of the increase. Discounting exchange rate fluctuations, sales would have jumped 11.5 percent.
Sales in Europe jumped 16.5 percent in the first half, to €223.2 million (about U.S. $300 million). Germany reported a 28.8 percent growth to €69.9 million (about U.S. $94 million). After a weaker first quarter in the Americas region, the region posted first-half sales of €55.9 million, after hitting €56 million in the first half of 2006, despite uncertainty surrounding the U.S. property market. In Asia, second-quarter sales grew 7.3 percent to €6.0 million.
In the first half of 2007, revenue from the rental business in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic grew 40.7 percent to €21.6 million. The company expects 2007 sales of €655 to €670 million, compared to €619.3 million for 2006.
