Herc Holdings Inc. (HRI) saw its loss widen to $39.20 million, or $1.39 a share for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $1.50 million, or $0.05 a share. Revenue during the quarter grew 6.51 percent to $389.40 million from $365.60 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 27 basis points over the previous year period to 40.32 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 7.68 percent as compared to a negative 0.57 percent for the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $97.80 million compared with $107.80 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 437 basis points in the quarter to 25.12 percent from 29.49 percent in the last year period.
"Our revenues and pricing were strong in the first quarter despite the industry's normal seasonality and continuing headwinds in upstream oil and gas," said Larry Silber, president and chief executive officer. "Rental revenue growth in key markets was particularly robust, and we remain confident in our strategy. The continuing progress we are making in expanding our customer base and increasing revenue in key markets was offset by the impact of stand-alone public company costs, certain business transformation and other costs, and investments in our sales organization and branch operations. "Our strategy is on track as we continue to shift our fleet mix to include a greater variety of higher dollar utilization fleet. In addition, net fleet capital expenditures reflect our disciplined approach to capital management through well-managed fleet rotation. We expect to deliver improved EBITDA margins over time as our expansion in high-growth, urban markets offers opportunities to outperform overall equipment rental industry growth rates."
Operating cash flow declines
Herc Holdings Inc. has generated cash of $86.20 million from operating activities during the quarter, down 15.98 percent or $ 16.40 million, when compared with the last year period. The company has spent $27.50 million cash to meet investing activities during the quarter as against cash inflow of $4.40 million in the last year period.
The company has spent $58.50 million cash to carry out financing activities during the quarter as against cash outgo of $112.40 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $24.30 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, up 22.11 percent or $4.40 million from $19.90 million on Mar. 31, 2016.
Debt comes down significantly
Herc Holdings Inc. has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $2,138.50 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, down 86.69 percent or $13,933.50 million from $16,072 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Short-term debt stood at $15.60 million as on Mar. 31, 2017. Total debt was 62.08 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 66.89 percent on Mar. 31, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 7.59 as on Mar. 31, 2017, down from 7.89 as on Mar. 31, 2016. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
