Speedy Hire ploughs ahead

12th Oct 2011 07:35

Speedy Hire, a UK provider of tools and equipment for hire, said it expects underlying revenue in the second quarter to be 4.1% higher than the previous year and is confident of meeting full year expectations."In spite of challenging macro-economic conditions, Speedy continues to make positive progress," it said in a company statement. UK trading continues to improve steadily in line with expectations, although uncertainty remains in the overall outlook for the UK economy, Speedy said. In the UK, the second quarter increase in year-on-year revenue arose mostly from a continued improvement in yield which was up 5.5% on the same quarter in the prior year, driven by a 7.8% growth in hire rates. This was offset by volumes, which were 2.9% lower, as it turned away from unprofitable business.The group said its investment in IT continues to provide Speedy with the visibility needed to pursue margin gains and also enable more effective investment of capital into the fleet. "These factors, together with the successes that continue to be extracted from repositioning the property base and driving ongoing efficiencies from operating costs, leave the board confident of the group meeting its expectations for this financial year," it said.Net debt was further reduced to £77m at 30 September compared to £79.5m 31 March 2011.---cj