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HSS Hire Group PLC on Thursday declared a higher half-year dividend despite profit falling amid increased costs. It also cautioned on an operating backdrop which got more tricky in July. The Manchester-based tool and equipment rental firm said pretax profit in the first half of 2023 fell 15% to £5.5 million from £6.5 million a year prior. Revenue climbed 6.3% to £170.1 million from £159.9 million. However, cost of sales increased 5.7% to £85.9 million from £81.3 million, while administrative expenses increased 6.4% to £56.6 million from £53.2 million. Financial expenses increased 42% to £5.2 million from £3.7 million. The company declared a half-year dividend of 0.18 pence per share, up 5.9% from 0.17p a year prior. Looking ahead, the company said it expects to be able to continue in operational existence for at least 12 more months. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ashmore says: ‘I am pleased to report another consecutive period of growth with strong underlying performance driven by continued double-digit growth in our capital-light Services segment. We have made great strides delivering our strategy in the first half of 2023 as our marketplace proposition continues to develop for our customers and suppliers. The early results underpin our confidence in our transformational strategy to be the leading marketplace for equipment services and as such we will continue to invest in the balance of 2023 to build upon this success. ‘The macro environment has become more challenging from July; we have experienced significant volatility of demand in our Rental segment over the last few weeks, which has widened the range of possible performance outcomes for the balance of the year. However, this will be temporary, and we therefore plan to leverage our robust balance sheet to sustain investment in the business, implementing our strategy to ensure that HSS can take full advantage of the market when it recovers.’ HSS Hire shares fell 8.2% to 9.50 pence each on Thursday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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