A Solid Fiscal Year for U.K.-Based Vp plc

United Kingdom-based equipment rental chain Vp plc posted £208.7 million for its fiscal year which ended March 31, up from £205.6 million the previous year.
June 9, 2016
2 min read

United Kingdom-based equipment rental chain Vp plc posted £208.7 million for its fiscal year which ended March 31, up from £205.6 million the previous year. Pretax profits also increased to £27.6 million, compared to £25.1 million the previous year. EBITDA rose 10.2 percent to £59.3 million, compared to £53.8 million a year ago.

Acquisitions played a role in Vp’s increased revenues. The company acquired Test & Management in November 2015, which now operates as part of its ESS Safeforce division. It also acquired Higher Access, an aerial firm specializing in tracked aerial work platforms.

“Following last year’s record-breaking results, the group has continued to make further good progress this year, reporting another strong financial performance with improvements in profits, margins and returns, delivered from a relatively modest growth in revenues,” said Jeremy Pilkington, chairman. “This trend is expected to continue as the varying demands of supportive infrastructure, housebuilding and construction markets play against a challenged oil and gas sector.”

After the financial year ended, Vp acquired Australian rental company TR Pty, which has eight branches in Australia, three in New Zealand and two in Malaysia. Pilkington said growing the company’s non-U.K. revenue base is one of the company’s key longer-term strategic objectives.

“We enter the new financial year in good shape, with most end markets offering supportive trading environments and with the prospect of contributions from our acquisitions,” Pilkington added. “Our business model of diverse and specialist services continues to serve us well and with the new financial year starting positively, we look forward to another year of progress for Vp and our shareholders.”

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.

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