Lavendon profit up 145% as it buys The Platform Company for £46m

Plant hire firm Lavendon Group has unveiled a 145% jump in profit for the year, as it published details of its £46m acquisition of The Platform Company.

The group's revenues climbed from £124.7m in 2006 to £186m in 2007 - an increase of 49%. Pre-tax profit climbed to £18.9m, up from £7.7m a year ago.

Meanwhile the company, which operates in Germany, France, Belgium, Spain and the Middle East, said that the UK remained its biggest market. Revenue in the UK jumped to almost £106m (£81.3m), while pre-tax profit hit almost £17m.

Chairman John Gordon hailed the company's "exceptional" cash performance, and shrugged off concerns that economic conditions might make for a slower 2008.

"The drivers for the use of powered access equipment remain as compelling as ever. Trading since the year-end is in line with our expectations and while we are aware of perceived uncertainty about economic conditions in the UK, we have seen no impact on our end user markets. As such the board looks to 2008 with confidence."

News of the results came alongside details of the firm's £46m purchase of The Platform Company, which offers a range specialist access equipment for hire in the UK.

The acquisition is the latest in a series for Lavendon, which gobbled up UK firms Rise Hire, Wizard Workspace and Higher Platforms Group for a total of around £12.9m last year.

It also bought DK Rental Group, which operates in Belgium, France and Spain for £64.3m in December of last year.

Commenting on the most recent acquisition, Lavendon Access Services chief executive Andy Wright said: "The Platform Company is renowned in the marketplace as a quality and customer focused company and is highly respected within the industry. It employs a great team of people and we see its addition as being excellent news for the Lavendon Group and all of its companies”.