Distributor Wajax Jumps Revenues 34 Percent in Fourth Quarter
Canadian distributor Wajax posted fourth quarter revenue of $541.3 million, a 34-percent year-over-year increase. Full year revenue was CDN $1.963 billion for the full year, a 19.9 percent hike compared to 2021.
Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $42.3 million for the fourth quarter and $165.9 million for the full year, increases of 48.6 percent and 13.9 percent respectively. Wajax ended 2022 with a backlog of $468.8 million.
“In 2022, we delivered record revenue of nearly $2 billion and strong adjusted earnings per share growth of nearly 35 percent on a fully diluted basis,” said Iggy Domagalski, president and CEO. “In addition to benefiting from our enhanced relationship with Hitachi, industrial parts and engineered repair services sales demonstrated robust year-over-year growth, due, in part, to elevated commodity prices and sustained capital spending by customers across all regions.
“During the first half of the year, improved cash flow from operations allowed us to make early repayment of our acquisition credit facility and fund two tuck-in acquisitions, further expanding our ERS footprint and service offerings. In 2022, we generated $69.1 million in cash flow from operations, reflecting investments in inventory and increases in receivables to support a growing business. We continue to manage our balance sheet prudently, and saw our leverage ratio decline to a 10-year low of 1.10 times during the year, before rising slightly to 1.13 times at year-end. Our strong balance sheet gives us the flexibility to invest in our expanded Hitachi relationship, additional organic initiatives and acquisition opportunities to help drive future growth.”
Rental revenue increase
Equipment rental revenue was $10.2 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $9.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, a 7.1 percent increase. For the full year, equipment rental revenue was $39.1 million, compared to $35.5 million in 2021, a 10-percent year-over-year hike.
Equipment sales leaped 68.8 percent in the fourth quarter, from $119.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $202.2 million in the recently concluded quarter. For the full year, Wajax’s equipment sales totaled $628.6 million, compared to $484.2 million in 2021, a 29.8-percent jump. Product support was $118.3 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $102.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, a 15.1 rise. For the full year, product support brought in $483.9 million compared to $437.6 million a year ago, a 10.6-percent increase.
Moving into 2023, Wajax continues to see solid fundamentals in many of the markets it serves, particularly mining, energy and construction, supported by relatively elevated key commodity prices and sustained budgeting for capital projects. The company expects growth in its heavy equipment business. Wajax anticipates further strong demand in its less cyclical industrial parts and engineered repair service businesses, building on the 22.3 percent and 14 percent top-line growth in those categories in 2022.
Wajax is based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is No. 71 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.