Has Speedy hire turned the corner?
It's looking interesting. Any thoughts?
Takeover time?

StockMarketWire.com
Tools and equipment hire company Speedy Hire said adjusted pre-tax profits were expected to be ahead of its previous expectations.

Revenue, before disposals, was expected to grow by 6%, amid a renewed focus on small business customers, the company said.

Return on capital employed for the year was expected to be around 11%, up from 7.7%, amid a continued reduction in the size of the group's fleet.

Average asset utilisation for the 11 months to February 2018 was 55.4%, up 4.3% from the prior year.

Net debt at 31 March was expected to be approximately £80m after expenditure of £23m on acquisitions.

StockMarketWire.com
Tools and equipment hire group Speedy Hire posted a 25% rise in annual profit as UK construction markets remained buoyant.

Pre-tax profit rose to £18m, as revenue rose 2.2% to £377.4m.

Adjust pre-tax profit rose 60% to £25.9m and the company hiked its dividend for the year by 65% to 1.65p per share.

'We are delighted with these results which reflect a strong operational performance, robust capital management, the benefits of the strategy which was launched in September 2015, the impact of our recovery initiatives and some earlier-than-expected acquisition synergies,' chief executive Russell Down said.

'The market remains competitive; however the current year has got off to an encouraging start with revenue ahead of the comparative period on a like for like basis.'

'Whilst we are early into the new financial year, and some of the benefits from the acquisitions have been realised, we are confident of delivering further progress in the year ahead in line with our current expectations.'

StockMarketWire.com
Leading tool and equipment hire provider Speedy said the group remained on track to deliver full-year results in line with the Board's expectations and announced the appointment of David Shearer as Chairman from 1 October.

Ahead of its AGM later on Thursday, the Group said revenue for the first quarter of the year ending 31 March, pre disposals, increased by 6.6% on the prior year. Hire revenue and services revenues grew by 5.5% and 8.4%, respectively.

UK and Ireland hire revenue, meanwhile, increased by approximately 1% on a like-for-like basis, while the international business also continued to perform well, with a strong pipeline of opportunities.

The Group invested around £15.2m in the first quarter on new equipment for hire, up 4.0% on the prior year. Expenditure continued to be carefully targeted with average asset utilisation rates increasing to 55.7%, on a rolling 12-month basis.

Net debt at 30 June of £67.0m was lower than at year-end (£69.4m), while ROCE for the 12 months to 30 June was 11.8% (30 June 2017: 8.4%).

Outgoing Chairman Jan Astrand will remain as a Non-Executive Director of the Company and member of the Nomination Committee until 31 October 2018.

StockMarketWire.com
Tools and equipment rental group Speedy Hire more than doubled its first-half profit after it grew its customer base.

Pre-tax profit for the six months through September rose to £13.2m, up from £6.0m on-year.

Revenue rose 6% to £194.6m and adjusted profit, which excluded proceeds from asset sales, increased 26% to £13.4m.

Speedy Hire declared an interim dividend of 0.60p per share, up 20% on-year.

'These results demonstrate the progress we have made in implementing a customer focused strategy and growing our SME customer base,' chief executive Russell Down said.

'We have further improved our customer service proposition and the use of technology to better manage the business and meet market challenges.'

'We remain confident of delivering a result for the full year in line with our expectations.'