United Rentals Profit Tops Estimate, Lifts Outlook; Stock Up - Update

(RTTNews) - Construction-equipment rental company United Rentals Inc (URI), Wednesday reported a better-than-expected increase in second-quarter profit, helped mainly by higher revenue, with results easing past Wall Street estimates.

The company lifted the lower end of its revenue guidance for 2014, sending its shares up 5 percent in after-hours trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Michael Kneeland, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said, "Our strong performance in the quarter reflects significantly more equipment on rent at better margins than a year ago."

"We're well into the expansion of our specialty segment, most notably the acquisition and integration of National Pump in the second quarter," Kneeland added.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based United Rentals reported second-quarter net income of $94 million or $0.90 per share, compared with $83 million or $0.78 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.65 per share, compared with $1.12 per share for the same period last year. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.46 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the second quarter climbed to $1.40 billion from $1.21 billion a year ago, topping analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion.

Rental revenue - including owned equipment rental revenue, re-rent revenue and ancillary items - increased 16.8 percent year-over-year.

For fiscal year 2014, United Rental now expect revenue of $5.55 billion to $5.65 billion, up from its prior guidance of $5.45 billion to $5.65 billion. Fifteen analysts, on consensus, currently expect revenue of $5.56 billion for the year.

URI closed Wednesday at $108.23, up $0.57 or 0.53%, on a volume of 1.8 million shares. In after hours, the stock gained $4.27 or 3.95%.