United Rentals Swings To Q2 Profit

(RTTNews) - United Rentals Inc. (URI), the largest construction-equipment rental company in the US, Tuesday reported a swing to profit in the second-quarter, with revenues boosted by higher volumes and rental rates. Last year's result was weighed down by costs related to the acquisition of RSC Holdings.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based United Rentals second-quarter profit was $83 million or $0.78 per share, compared to a loss of $52 million or $0.63 per share last year.

Results for the year-ago quarter included merger and restructuring costs related to the acquisition of RSC Holdings.

Excluding one-time gains and losses, earnings improved to $1.12 per share from $ 0.66 per share last year. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.01 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the quarter grew to $1.21 billion from $993 million last year. Analysts estimated revenues of $1.23 billion for the quarter.

Equipment rentals, which contributes majority of revenues, increased to $1.01 billion from $845 million last year. Rental rates rose 4.2 percent, while the volume of equipment on rent advanced 5.1 percent.

Going forward, Chief Executive Michael Kneeland said, "We feel comfortable about achieving our full year outlook on rate, total revenue, EBITDA and free cash flow, while continuing to reduce our leverage."

URI closed Tuesday's regular trade at $50.98, down $1.24 or 2.37%, on the NYSE. The stock further slipped $0.48 or 0.94% in the after-hours trade.