United Rentals Inc. reported its third-quarter profit rose 12.3 percent due to increasing revenue from its larger customers and to the continuing success of the company's integration with RSC, which began once the acquisition was final this past April.
"We delivered a strong performance in the quarter, propelled by the effective execution of our strategy and widespread demand for our rental equipment," said Michael Kneeland, chief executive officer of United Rentals. "All but one of our regions reported year-over-year rate increases, and we now expect a rate gain of approximately 7% for the full year. Third quarter time utilization, while below last year's record level, contributed to a very healthy year-to-date performance of 67%. Our exceptionally strong flow-through and adjusted EBITDA margin make it clear that we're effectively managing rates, utilization and costs."
Kneeland continued, "The RSC integration is going very well, and we're raising our total cost synergies target to a range of $230 to $250 million. We've realigned our sales territories and consolidated 187 branches to date, all while continuing to generate double-digit revenue growth from our target accounts. These larger customers are at the heart of our strategy for profitable growth. They believe, as do we, that while there is some macro uncertainty, there are also good reasons to be optimistic about the coming year."
For more about United Rentals' third-quarter financial report...
