H&E Equipment posts $2.3 million quarterly loss
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The economic doldrums continue to plague Baton Rouge-based H&E Equipment Services Inc., which saw third-quarter earnings slide to a loss of $2.3 million, or 7 cents per share, compared to a $17.6 million, or 50 cents per share, profit a year earlier.
Income from operations plunged to $5.2 million, down 86 percent from the $37.2 million recorded a year earlier. Revenue fell 37 percent to $175.6 million from the $278.6 million reported last year.
The earnings were helped by the heavy equipment services firm’s $15.7 million cash sale of its Yale lift truck fleet and inventory. The company also reduced its debt by $42 million during the quarter.
In a prepared statement, John Engquist, H&E’s president and chief executive officer, said the economic problems that hurt demand for H&E’s products and services have not improved.
While utilization rates for the company’s fleet have stabilized, they remain at a low level, and as a result, rental prices remain weak, he said.
H&E’s stock slid to $9.83 per share this morning, down $1.05, on the news. Stock analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast a break-even quarter for H&E.
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