state infrastructure booming, page-9

re: asx announcement on results due real soon Source AAP 15/8/06

Tuesday August 15, 06:19 PM
National Hire set on resources, mining

National Hire Group Ltd chairman Ray Romano says the company will look to offset the fall in housing demand by capitalising on strong growth in the resources and mining sectors.

The re-focus comes as the equipment hire group announced a 53.9 per cent rise in annual net profit to $17.10 million for the 2005/06 year.

Mr Romano said while any move away from the residential sector was reflective of the downturn in the housing markets in NSW and Victoria, the sector could easily turn itself around.

"Everybody knows there's been a softening of the residential sector in NSW and Victoria, but there's still plenty of growth opportunities in the non-residential, mining, resources and infrastructure sectors to take advantage of right now," Mr Romano said.

"However, the residential sector tends to turn around a lot quicker than some of the bigger cycles, so while it might be down for 6-12 months, it will come back and we want to be there when it does."

Mr Romano said while final profit results were lower than the company's initial expectations, there were still positives to be drawn.

"It was a little disappointing that we didn't quite get those numbers, but we still have the ability to squeak more performance out of our existing fleet, and we're excited about new opportunities in Queensland and Western Australia," he said.

While National Hire purchased Allight Holdings Pty Ltd, The Cat Rental Store WA and AH Plant Hire last year, Mr Romano said the company was still looking for more takeover opportunities.

"We don't have any imminent acquisitions on the table at the moment, but we're certainly interested in any opportunities and we're going to keep our eyes and ears open," he said.

National Hire's revenue rose by 100 per cent to $233.4 million in the year to June 30, 2006.

The company also declared a fully franked final dividend of four cents, taking dividends for the year to seven cents compared to 2.5 cents in 2004/05.