HSS Hire Group’s revenue was up 5% in 2023 to £349.1m (2022: £332.8m); pre-tax profit was down 45% at £9.0m (2022: £16.5m).
It was, however, the company’s second biggest profit since its 2015 stock market flotation and continues a run of what have now been three consecutive profitable years for HSS, having broken a run of five consecutive loss-making years in 2021
Part of turnaround is down to repositioning the business as a service provider and not just a tool hire shop.
In 2023, rental revenues increased by 0.5% to £207.3m (2022: £206.2m) and accounted for 59% of group revenue (2022: 62%). By contrast, services revenues increased by 12% to £141.8m (2022: £126.6m), accounting for 41% (2022: 38%) of group revenue.
Operating profit decreased by £4.5m to £19.9m. This was attributed mainly to strategic investment during the year.
Net debt increased by £17.3m during the year to £111.6m.
HSS sold its power generator operations ABird and Apex to CES Global in March 2024 for an enterprise value of £23.25m. The proceeds of this were used to reduce debt and strengthen the balance sheet.
Chief executive Steve Ashmore said: "I am pleased to report another year of significant strategic progress alongside resilient financial performance, delivering revenue growth ahead of the market despite a more challenging macro-environment. We have made big strides implementing clear focused strategies for our two divisions ProService and Operations, with early positive results providing the confidence to accelerate strategic investment to evolve HSS into a leading marketplace for equipment services. Customers are engaging with our marketplace platform at an exponential rate, valuing the ease it brings and resulting in significant revenue growth.”
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