Speedy Hire hails change in trading, but remains wary

THE UK's biggest tool and equipment hire firm yesterday hailed a turnaround in trading fortunes but warned it remained wary about the impact of more corporate misery following the collapse of building firms Rok and Connaught.

Speedy Hire's adjusted pre-tax losses for the six months to 30 September increased by 106 per cent year-on-year to 9.9 million but sales, volumes and average hire rates have shown quarter-on-quarter growth since the start of 2010.

Sales declined by 4 per cent to 177.3m in the six-month period, compared with the previous year, while the group's gross margin dropped from 60.2 per cent to 57.9 per cent, which helped worsen its losses.

However, chief executive Steve Corcoran insisted the company had turned the corner after sales continued to improve in October, when they showed a year-on-year increase of 5 per cent.

He said he expected to see more failures in the construction industry when builders stretched their resources to deal with an increasing demand.