Shares in tool and equipment rental firm Speedy Hire Plc (LON:SDY) nudged higher as it continued to show a business on the mend.
The Merseyside-based company has been trying to put the last few years firmly behind it after a string of profit warnings on waning demand in the construction industry, along with and a high-profile activist investor attack last summer.
In a trading update today, it said revenues, excluding disposals, for the year to December 31, 2016 were expected to be around 7% ahead of last year
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Adjusted pre-tax profit before tax is expected to be in line with expectations, and "well ahead" of the prior year, it told investors.
Last August , rebel investor Toscafund moved successfully to get turnaround specialist David Shearer elected to the Speedy board
The group's main shareholder had called for the removal of Speedy's executive chairman Jan Astrand and the election of Shearer as a replacement, but that failed, although Shearer was elected to the board.
Today, Speedy said Shearer has been appointed as a member of the remuneration committee, while Astrand has stepped down from both that committee and the audit committee.
As previously reported, Speedy's hire fleet has been substantially reduced, resulting in an improvement in return on capital employed.
Net debt as at the end of March is expected to be less than £80mln - significantly lower than last year and after funding the Lloyds British acquisition, it noted.
Shares added1.44% to 53p a pop.