STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI), the world’s largest equipment rental
company, today announced that its board of directors has approved an
enhanced capital allocation strategy that remains focused on balancing
growth and returns. Specifically, the company is lowering its targeted
leverage range to 2.0x-3.0x, from 2.5x-3.5x. The company expects to end
the year with a net leverage ratio of approximately 2.5x versus a
reported net leverage ratio of 2.9x as of March 31, 2019.
Matthew Flannery, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said, “Over
the last decade our capital allocation strategy has served our company
and our investors well. This change is consistent with other actions
we’ve taken to deploy our capital with a balanced approach to grow our
business, enhance our cash flows and improve financial flexibility. The
evolution of our business, and the resulting durable cash flow, provides
us the further opportunity to both fully support our growth initiatives
and reduce our financial leverage.”
Jessica Graziano, chief financial officer of United Rentals, said, “We
remain focused on exercising strong capital stewardship to drive
sustainable shareholder value. Today’s announcement reflects the
culmination of an extensive six-month review of our capital allocation
strategy. We expect this change in leverage to lower our beta and
potentially unlock value for our shareholders without hindering our
ability to continue to invest in growth.”
Additionally, the company reaffirms its 2019 financial guidance. The
complete guidance is available under Investor Relations on unitedrentals.com.
The company also remains committed to completing its current $1.25
billion share repurchase program.
The company looks forward to discussing these and other topics with
investors at the Melius Research Industrials Conference, on June 4, 2019
and UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference, on June 6,
2019, both in New York City.
About United Rentals
United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the
world. The company has an integrated network of 1,165 rental locations
in North America and 11 in Europe. In North America, the company
operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s
approximately 18,600 employees serve construction and industrial
customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company
offers approximately 4,000 classes of equipment for rent with a total
original cost of $14.09 billion. United Rentals is a member of the
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000
Index® and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Additional information
about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, known
as the PSLRA. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and
uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set
forth in the statements. These statements are based on current plans,
estimates and projections, and, therefore, you should not place undue
reliance on them. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and
actual results may differ materially from those projected. United
Rentals undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but
rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and
projections about the business and future financial results of the
equipment rental industries, and other legal, regulatory and economic
developments. We use words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,”
“expects,” “projects,” “future,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should,”
“could,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,”
“opportunity,” “guidance,” “target,” “strategy” and similar expressions
to identify these forward-looking statements that are intended to be
covered by the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA. Actual results could
differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking
statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to:
(1) a slowdown in North American construction and industrial activities,
which could reduce our revenues and profitability, (2) challenges
associated with past or future acquisitions, (3) our significant
indebtedness, which requires us to use a substantial portion of our cash
flow for debt service and can constrain our flexibility in responding to
unanticipated or adverse business conditions, (4) fluctuations in the
price of our common stock and inability to complete stock repurchases in
the time frame and/or on the terms anticipated, and (5) other risks and
uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of United Rentals’
Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other
documents filed from time to time with the SEC. United Rentals gives no
assurance that it will achieve its expectations and does not assume any
responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking
statements.
The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully
consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties
that affect United Rentals described in the “Risk Factors” section of
documents filed from time to time with the SEC. All forward-looking
statements included in this document are based upon information
available to United Rentals on the date hereof; and United Rentals
assumes no obligations to update or revise any such forward-looking
statements.
Contacts
Ted Grace
(203) 618-7122
Cell: (203) 399-8951
[email protected]
