H&E says demand stable but still weak

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company, which sells and rents aerial platforms, cranes and earthmoving equipment in the southern and western states of the US, made a net loss was $2.3 million in the quarter.

John Engquist, H&E Equipment Services' president and chief executive officer, said; "Our business environment remains very challenging and we have not seen any seasonal increase in demand during the third quarter.

"While we are pleased to have experienced stabilisation of our fleet utilisation during the third quarter, we have not seen improvement in the structural economic problems that continue to impact the demand for our products and services. While utilisation has stabilised, it has stabilised at a low level. As a result, rental pricing remains weak".

Leslie Magee, H&E Equipment Services' chief financial officer, said the demand for rental equipment and new and used equipment for sale remains weak; "In general, our customers lack a near-term need for construction equipment based on today's limited visibility of a recovery in our end-markets. We have seen few signs of a boost in the confidence levels of our end-users, which is necessary to initiate increased capital spending by our customers."