Toromont Posts Strong Q3 Fueled by Heavy and Power Rentals

Nov. 7, 2015

Heavy equipment rentals were strong for Toromont in the third quarter.

Toromont, owner of the Caterpillar dealership for Ontario and other eastern Canadian provinces, posted equipment group revenues of 7 percent to $439.3 million in the third quarter, driven by increased product support and, to a lesser extent, increased heavy equipment and power rental revenues. Equipment sales were flat compared to a year ago, when the company sold $43 million into a single project. Sales to mining and agriculture increased, even though both markets are experiencing tight conditions.

The weaker Canadian dollar provides a positive impact on revenue as pricing is adjusted to reflect the higher cost of U.S.-sourced equipment and parts. Operating income jumped 9 percent compared to a year ago, reflecting higher revenues and good expense management.

Equipment group revenues hiked 11 percent to $1.2 billion for the first nine months of 2015.

“We are pleased with the steady performance of Toromont through these times of challenging and highly competitive market conditions,” said Scott Medhurst, president and CEO of Toromont Industries. “In the Equipment Group, product support, heavy rents and power rentals continued to fuel growth, benefiting from focus and the increased installed base of equipment.”

Toromont also owns Battlefield Equipment Rentals, No. 19 on the RER 100.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.