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(Sharecast News) - Tool and equipment rental group Speedy Hire delivered an upbeat outlook on Wednesday despite swinging to a loss in the first half, hailing the recent "transformational" deal with HSS Hire which should add up to 55m in annualised revenues.
Speedy Hire last month announced a new five-year agreement with HSS Hire to become the principal equipment supplier to the latter's digital marketplace ProService, along with the purchase of a 9.99% in HSS Hire (which will be renamed ProService Building Services Marketplace).
The company said that while subdued market conditions are expected to continue for the remainder of the financial year (ending 31 March 2026), recent multi-year contract wins and the ProService agreement give "confidence for the second half", with annual results to be heavily weighted towards the latter part of the year.
The firm swung to an adjusted pre-tax loss of 7.2m over the six months to 30 September, compared with a 0.4m profit the year before, reflecting higher interest costs following accelerated hire fleet investment to support contract growth.
The adjusted EBITDA margin slipped to 18.9% from 21.7% due to reduced hire revenues and increases to national living wage and national insurance.
Revenues inched 0.8% higher to 205.2m, with hire revenues down 1.7%, as strong gains from national customers were offset by volumes declines in the regional customer base, while weak market conditions constrained growth in trade and retail. In contrast, services revenues excluding fuel were up 10.6%.
The company decided to cut its interim dividend to just 0.3p, down from 0.8p the year before, in line with previous guidance to rebase its payouts until the end of FY2028.
"As a result of our strategic progress, recent contract wins and the commercial agreement with ProService, we expect to offset the ongoing subdued market conditions and the board's expectations for FY2026 remain unchanged. We look forward to FY2027 with confidence," said chief executive Dan Evans.
Shares were up 6.2% at 26.87p by 0922 GMT.
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