WesternOne Inc. recorded $20.7 in fourth quarter consolidated revenue compared to $20.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Gross profit was $6.7 million compared to $8 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $3.1 million, compared to $4.5 million in the year-ago frame.
Vancouver, B.C., Canada-based WesternOne’s operating results from continuing operations excluded the businesses of its subsidiary Britco LP for 2016 as well as comparative information in previous years because WesternOne recently sold Britco’s rental and U.S. manufacturing businesses in order to focus more on infrastructure opportunities.
Revenue generated from WesternOne Infrastructure Services was consistent with the prior year period because of a comparatively colder winter season in Alberta in late 2016 increasing rental demand for temporary construction heaters and related fuel and services, although the related positive impact was offset by compressed rental rates and fuel margins as a result of competition. Gross profit and adjusted EBITDA decreased because of the compressed operating leverage, as operating costs remained high to keep up with higher rental volumes.
“The operating environment of our WIS business remained challenging throughout Q4,” said WesternOne CEO Peter Blake. “While we benefited from a colder winter heat season compared to the previous year, WIS continued to be negatively impacted by market-driven factors including reduced construction activities particularly in Alberta and rental rate competition in all major markets. In spite of these challenges, our strategy of re-deploying rental fleet to targeted markets and focusing on major projects within the heat business has helped us to maintain market share and competitiveness. We will continue to focus on growing revenues and managing capital returns and liquidity as we continue to navigate through the current economic environment.”
WesternOne Rental & Sales is No. 45 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.