27 August 2010 – interim results

Difficult trading conditions in the six months to 30 June have led to disappointing interim results from the powered access equipment rental group.  Although revenues only fell marginally to £106m (2009: £114m), operating profits before exceptional items almost halved to £7.1m (2009: £14.1m) and, as a result, adjusted pre-tax profits fell to just £1.0m (2009: £5.3m).  Earnings per share on the same basis fell to 0.45p (2009: 8.66p) and the interim dividend was cut to 0.33p   (2009: 1.00p).  Net debt declined slightly to £167.6m from £182.1m at the start of the year and this is expected to fall further in the second half.  However, with trading conditions likely to remain challenging the shares are no more than a HOLD.