United Rentals Releases Preliminary Second Quarter Earnings Results
Following are some of the financial highlights for the second quarter of 2005 compared with the same period last year: Total revenues increased 15.5% to $896 million; same-store rental revenues increased 11.4%; contractor supplies sales increased 48% to $85 million; dollar utilization was 64.8% — an increase of 4.7 percentage points; and rental rates for the general rentals segment increased 5.2%.
Second quarter 2005 revenues for general rentals were $823 million, an increase of 16.0% compared with $709 million for the second quarter of 2004. Rental rates for the second quarter increased 5.2%, and same-store rental revenues increased 11.3% from the second quarter of 2004. First half 2005 revenues for general rentals were $1.51 billion, an increase of 15.4% compared with $1.31 billion for the first half of 2004. Rental rates for the first half increased 7.1% and same-store rental revenues increased 11.2% from the first half of 2004. General rentals segment revenues represented 93% of total revenues in the first six months of 2005.
“Our strong performance this quarter reflects our success in continuing to improve rental rates, while at the same time expanding our rental fleet and increasing time utilization,” said CEO Wayland Hicks. “To drive future growth, we are opening new branches in attractive markets. We expect to open 30 to 35 new branches in 2005, including the 18 we've already opened. These branches will increase our presence in existing markets and expand our footprint into new areas. We are also continuing to grow our sales of contractor supplies at a rapid pace. These sales were up 48% compared with last year's second quarter, and we have opened eight regional distribution centers to support future growth.”
