LONDON (Alliance News) - Equipment rental provider Lavendon Group PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit grew in 2015 thanks to strong performances in its Middle East and France operations and an improvement in the UK.
Lavendon said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December rose to GBP38.5 million from GBP34.1 million a year earlier.
Revenue increased 1.0% to GBP248.6 million from the GBP246.3 million it made a year earlier, as rental revenue increased by the same amount to GBP233.5 million from GBP231.9 million. Lavendon performed well throughout the year in its Middle East and French operations and saw growth return in its UK arm by the close of the year following a slow start.
The group will pay a final dividend of 3.7 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 5.4p, a 17% rise year-on-year.
Lavendon said trading so far in 2016 has been in line with its expectations, and it is confident for future growth.
Chief Executive Don Kenny said the results were ahead of market expectations, with its strongest underlying operating margin, pretax profit and return on capital employed in the company's history, despite increasing difficult conditions in its markets.
Lavendon shares were up 2.1% to 136.00 pence on Thursday morning.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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