Speedy Hire PLC’s (LON:SDY) shares got a lift after reporting 6% higher interim revenues and improving margins.
The tool hirer generated sales of £204mln and pre-tax profits up 21% to £16.4mln in the period to September.
READ: Speedy Hire expecting a stronger second half
Growth was led by Speedy’s acquisition of scissor-lift specialist Lifterz in March, which made it the second-largest powered access fleet in the UK, and professional services group Geason Training.
Margins rose to 9% from 8.4% as Speedy cut costs and staff.
A younger hire fleet and optimising it with machine learning to increase resilience also helped.
The company boosted its interim dividend by 17% to 0.7p.
Chief executive, Russell Down, noted: “Over 40% of our revenue now comes from services compared to around 30% three years ago”, which combined with a “more diverse customer base”, provides the company with a "strong platform for further growth”.
“In spite of the current uncertain UK political backdrop we remain confident of delivering full-year results in line with our expectations," he added.
House broker Liberum rated Speedy Hire a ‘buy’, setting a target price of 77p, saying that “drivers of growth are also improving the resilience of the group”.
Early deals on Monday pushed shares up 1.5% to 55.4p.