LVD.L Regulatory News (LVD)

19 April 2012

Lavendon Group plc

Interim Management Statement

Confident Start to 2012

Lavendon Group plc ("the Group"), the market leader in the rental of powered access equipment in Europe and the Middle East, will make the following Interim Management Statement, covering the period from 1 January 2012 to date, at its Annual General Meeting to be held later today:

"We are pleased with the progress that the Group has made in the first quarter of 2012, which has been in line with the Board's expectations.

The Group's overall revenues for the three months to 31 March 2012, on a constant currency basis and excluding the disposal of ex-rental fleet equipment, increased by 8% compared with the prior year, with two percentage points of this growth being derived from an increase in new equipment sales.

Revenues from our market leading UK business have continued to show growth, with pricing improvements compensating for lower year on year volumes following the completion of major projects in the latter months of 2011. Our Continental European businesses have all increased revenues in the quarter, principally driven by volumes, with France in particular, and Belgium towards the end of the quarter, benefiting from the redeployment of the Spanish fleet at the end of last year. In the Middle East, our strong market position continues to attract increased volumes, and these have accelerated the rate of year on year revenue growth across the quarter. The Group's rental revenue growth rates for the first quarter are given below.

Percentages shown are on a constant currency basis and are rental revenues only excluding revenues from new and ex-fleet equipment

In the first quarter, the combination of revenue growth and continued operational improvements enabled further progress to be made in improving the Group's profitability, margins and return on capital employed ("ROCE"). In particular, actions taken to improve the profitability and ROCE of our German business are delivering the expected benefits, and these should continue to accrue throughout the year. In addition, we are continuing to align the Group's rental fleet to reflect both anticipated market demand, and our ability to generate increasing revenues from a smaller but more efficient fleet mix.

As expected, the Group's net debt level at 31 March 2012 remained broadly unchanged since the year end at £108 million. As previously stated, although our capital expenditure programme is increasing in 2012, the Board expects the strength of the Group's cash flows to fully fund this investment and facilitate a further reduction in the level of the Group's borrowings over the year.

Whilst we are conscious of the continuing economic uncertainty, the Board believes that if the current momentum in trading performance is maintained, the Group will deliver another year of good progress in line with its expectations."

Ends

Conference call

A conference call will be held for analysts at 8.30am (UK time) today (19 April 2012), the details of which can be obtained from FTI Consulting. A replay of the call will be available on the company's website after the event at www.lavendongroup.com.

Capital Markets Event

The Company is today hosting a site visit at its East London, Thurrock depot for analysts and investors. No new trading or financial information will be disclosed and the presentations will be available at the Group's website (www.lavendongroup.com) later today. 

Next Update

Lavendon Group will release its half year trading update in July 2012

For further information, please contact:

Notes to Editors

Lavendon Group is the European and Middle East market leader in the rental of powered access equipment. The quality of diversity of its hire fleet, coupled with the professionalism and accessibility of its depot network, provides an exceptional product range for customers.

Powered access equipment is designed to enable people to work safely, productively and comfortably at height. It can be used in a comprehensive range of applications, both inside and outside buildings and structures.

The Group has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. The equipment fleet totals almost 20,000 units and the Group employs over 1,600 people.