United Rentals Announces Second Quarter 2019 Results

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2019¹.

Total revenue increased 21.1% to $2.290 billion and rental revenue increased 20.2% to $1.960 billion. On a GAAP basis, the company reported second quarter net income of $270 million, or $3.44 per diluted share (“EPS”), compared with $270 million, or $3.20 per diluted share, for the same period in 2018. Second quarter 2019 included a pretax debt redemption loss of $32 million, or $0.30 per diluted share after taxes. Diluted EPS for the quarter increased 7.5% year-over-year. Adjusted EPS² for the quarter increased 23.1% year-over-year to $4.74.

Adjusted EBITDA² increased 18.3% year-over-year to $1.073 billion, while adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 110 basis points to 46.9%. On a pro forma basis, year-over-year, net income increased 7.1%, adjusted EBITDA increased 6.6% and adjusted EBITDA margin increased 40 basis points.

Matthew Flannery, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said, “We were pleased with our solid growth in revenue for both our general rental and specialty segments and our adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter. Importantly, the market outlook for the second half of 2019 remains positive based on feedback from our customers and the field. The multiple integrations we have underway will continue to gain traction in the back part of the year.”

Flannery continued, “Our updates to guidance reflect a slightly slower than expected pace for the BlueLine integration, as well as historically bad weather in several key regions this past quarter. As a result, we’ve trimmed the upper ends on total revenue and adjusted EBITDA by approximately 1%, and capex by $150 million, while raising our free cash flow expectation. We remain confident in the health of the cycle and are well positioned to serve our customers with the strongest service offering in our history.”

Highlights

• Rental Revenue: Rental revenue³ was a second quarter record at $1.960 billion, reflecting increases of 20.2% and 4.8% year-over-year on an as-reported and pro forma basis, respectively. The as-reported increase is primarily due to the impact of the BakerCorp and BlueLine acquisitions. The pro forma increase is primarily due to growth in the company’s construction end-markets.

• Fleet Productivity⁴: Second quarter fleet productivity decreased 3.1% year-over-year, primarily due to the impact of the BakerCorp and BlueLine acquisitions. On a pro forma basis, fleet productivity increased 0.7%, reflecting improvements in rental rates and fleet mix, partially offset by lower time utilization, primarily due to acquisition integration activities and adverse weather.
• Used Equipment: The company generated $197 million of proceeds from used equipment sales in the second quarter at a GAAP gross margin of 41.1% and an adjusted gross margin of 49.2%⁵; this compares with $157 million at a GAAP gross margin of 41.4% and an adjusted gross margin of 51.6% for the same period last year.
• Profitability: Net income for the second quarter of $270 million was flat with last year. Net interest expense increased $68 million year-over-year primarily due to debt issued to fund the BakerCorp and BlueLine acquisitions, and a loss of $32 million associated with the full redemption of our 5 ³/₄ % Senior Notes. Operating income increased 12.6% year-over-year to $529 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 18.3% year-over-year to $1.073 billion, while adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 110 basis points to 46.9%. The decline in adjusted EBITDA margin primarily reflects the acquisitions of BakerCorp and BlueLine. On a pro forma basis, year-over-year, net income increased 7.1%, adjusted EBITDA increased 6.6% and adjusted EBITDA margin increased 40 basis points.
• General rentals: Second quarter rental revenue for the company’s general rentals segment increased by 14.6% and 2.1% year-over-year on an actual and pro forma basis, respectively. Rental gross margin decreased by 200 basis points to 38.8%, primarily due to the impact of the BlueLine acquisition. Depreciation of rental equipment increased 20.6%, with the BlueLine acquisition being a significant driver of the increase.
• Specialty: Second quarter rental revenue for the company’s specialty segment, Trench, Power and Fluid Solutions, increased by 44.8% year-over-year, including an organic increase of 12.6%. Rental gross margin decreased by 250 basis points to 46.0%, primarily due to the impact of acquisitions.
• Cash flow: For the first six months of 2019, net cash from operating activities decreased 3.6% to $1.590 billion and free cash flow⁶, including aggregated merger and restructuring payments, increased 11.0% to $780 million. Free cash flow for the first six months of 2019 included rental gross capital expenditures of $1.129 billion, a 7.9% decrease from a year ago.
• Capital Allocation: In June 2019, the company announced that it had lowered its targeted leverage range to 2.0x-3.0x, from 2.5x-3.5x, and expects to end the year with a net leverage ratio of approximately 2.5x. The company’s net leverage ratio was 2.8x at June 30, 2019. During the first six months of 2019, the company reduced net debt by $84 million relative to year-end 2018 levels, primarily due to the net impact of issuing $750 million of debt due in 2030 and redeeming $850 million of debt that would have been due in 2024. During the same period, the company also repurchased $420 million of common stock under its current $1.25 billion repurchase program, reducing its diluted share count by 2.1%. As of June 30, 2019, the company has repurchased $840 million of common stock under this program, which it expects to complete by year-end.

Updated 2019 Outlook

The company has updated its full-year outlook as follows:

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)

ROIC was 10.8% for the 12 months ended June 30, 2019, exceeding both the 10.0% ROIC for the 12 months ended June 30, 2018 and the company’s current weighted average cost of capital of less than 8.0%. The company’s ROIC metric uses after-tax operating income for the trailing 12 months divided by average stockholders’ equity, debt and deferred taxes, net of average cash. To mitigate the volatility related to fluctuations in the company’s tax rate from period to period, the U.S. federal corporate statutory tax rates of 21% for 2019 and 2018 and 35% for 2017 were used to calculate after-tax operating income (because of the trailing 12-month measurement period, the 2017 tax rate impacts ROIC for the 12 months ended June 30, 2018).

ROIC materially increased due to the reduced tax rates following the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”). The Tax Act decreased the U.S. federal tax rate from 35% to 21%. If the 21% U.S. federal corporate statutory tax rate following the enactment of the Tax Act was applied to ROIC for all historic periods, the company estimates that ROIC would have been 10.6% and 10.9% for the 12 months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The decline in tax-adjusted ROIC for the 2019 period primarily reflects the impact of recent acquisitions.

Fleet Productivity Operating Metric

In January 2019, the company introduced fleet productivity as a comprehensive metric that provides greater insight into the decisions made by its managers in support of growth and returns. Specifically, the company seeks to optimize the interplay of rental rates, time utilization and mix in driving rental revenue. Fleet productivity aggregates, in one metric, the impact of changes in rates, utilization and mix on owned equipment rental revenue.

The company believes that this metric is useful in assessing the effectiveness of its decisions on rates, time utilization and mix, particularly as they support the creation of shareholder value. Additional information about fleet productivity can be found in the Second Quarter 2019 Investor Presentation on unitedrentals.com. The company is providing quarterly information on rental rates and time utilization in its Second Quarter 2019 Investor Presentation, and does not plan to include such information in subsequent Investor Presentations.

The table below shows the components of the year-over-year change in rental revenue using the fleet productivity methodology, presented on an actual and pro forma basis:

Please refer to our Second Quarter 2019 Investor Presentation for additional perspective on the components of fleet productivity.

1. Reflects the estimated impact of inflation on the revenue productivity of fleet based on OEC, which is recorded at cost.
2. Reflects the combined impact of changes in rental rates, time utilization and mix on owned equipment rental revenue. Changes in customers, fleet, geographies and segments all contribute to changes in mix.
3. Reflects the combined impact of changes in other types of equipment rental revenue: ancillary and re-rent (excludes owned equipment rental revenue).

Conference Call

United Rentals will hold a conference call tomorrow, Thursday, July 18, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call number is 855-458-4217 (international: 574-990-3618). The conference call will also be available live by audio webcast at unitedrentals.com, where it will be archived until the next earnings call. The replay number for the call is 404-537-3406, passcode is 5473879.

Non-GAAP Measures

Free cash flow, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted earnings per share (adjusted EPS) are non-GAAP financial measures as defined under the rules of the SEC. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are presented on as-reported and pro forma bases. Free cash flow represents net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of, and plus proceeds from, equipment. The equipment purchases and proceeds represent cash flows from investing activities. EBITDA represents the sum of net income, provision for income taxes, interest expense, net, depreciation of rental equipment and non-rental depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA plus the sum of the merger related costs, restructuring charge, stock compensation expense, net, and the impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired fleet. Adjusted EPS represents EPS plus the sum of the merger related costs, restructuring charge, the impact on depreciation related to acquired fleet and property and equipment, the impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired fleet, merger related intangible asset amortization, asset impairment charge and loss on repurchase/redemption of debt securities and amendment of ABL facility. The company believes that: (i) free cash flow provides useful additional information concerning cash flow available to meet future debt service obligations and working capital requirements; (ii) EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA provide useful information about operating performance and period-over-period growth, and help investors gain an understanding of the factors and trends affecting our ongoing cash earnings, from which capital investments are made and debt is serviced; and (iii) adjusted EPS provides useful information concerning future profitability. However, none of these measures should be considered as alternatives to net income, cash flows from operating activities or earnings per share under GAAP as indicators of operating performance or liquidity.

Information reconciling forward-looking adjusted EBITDA to GAAP financial measures is unavailable to the company without unreasonable effort. The company is not able to provide reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA to GAAP financial measures because certain items required for such reconciliations are outside of the company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, such as the provision for income taxes. Preparation of such reconciliations would require a forward-looking balance sheet, statement of income and statement of cash flow, prepared in accordance with GAAP, and such forward-looking financial statements are unavailable to the company without unreasonable effort. The company provides a range for its adjusted EBITDA forecast that it believes will be achieved, however it cannot accurately predict all the components of the adjusted EBITDA calculation. The company provides an adjusted EBITDA forecast because it believes that adjusted EBITDA, when viewed with the company’s results under GAAP, provides useful information for the reasons noted above. However, adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance or liquidity under GAAP and, accordingly, should not be considered as an alternative to net income or cash flow from operating activities as an indicator of operating performance or liquidity.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company has an integrated network of 1,164 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 18,900 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 $14.57 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.

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. These statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seek,” “on-track,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend” or “anticipate,” or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of vision, strategy or outlook. 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. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) the challenges associated with past or future acquisitions, including BakerCorp and BlueLine, such as undiscovered liabilities, costs, integration issues and/or the inability to achieve the cost and revenue synergies expected; (2) a slowdown in North American construction and industrial activities, which could reduce our revenues and profitability; (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) the inability to refinance our indebtedness at terms that are favorable to us, or at all; (5) the incurrence of additional debt, which could exacerbate the risks associated with our current level of indebtedness; (6) noncompliance with covenants in our debt agreements, which could result in termination of our credit facilities and acceleration of outstanding borrowings; (7) restrictive covenants and amount of borrowings permitted under our debt agreements, which could limit our financial and operational flexibility; (8) an overcapacity of fleet in the equipment rental industry; (9) inability to benefit from government spending, including spending associated with infrastructure projects; (10) fluctuations in the price of our common stock and inability to complete stock repurchases in the time frame and/or on the terms anticipated; (11) our rates and time utilization being less than anticipated; (12) our inability to manage credit risk adequately or to collect on contracts with customers; (13) our inability to access the capital that our business or growth plans may require; (14) the incurrence of impairment charges; (15) trends in oil and natural gas could adversely affect demand for our services and products; (16) our dependence on distributions from subsidiaries as a result of our holding company structure and the fact that such distributions could be limited by contractual or legal restrictions; (17) an increase in our loss reserves to address business operations or other claims and any claims that exceed our established levels of reserves; (18) the incurrence of additional costs and expenses (including indemnification obligations) in connection with litigation, regulatory or investigatory matters; (19) the outcome or other potential consequences of litigation and other claims and regulatory matters relating to our business, including certain claims that our insurance may not cover; (20) the effect that certain provisions in our charter and certain debt agreements and our significant indebtedness may have of making more difficult or otherwise discouraging, delaying or deterring a takeover or other change of control of us; (21) management turnover and inability to attract and retain key personnel; (22) our costs being more than anticipated and/or the inability to realize expected savings in the amounts or time frames planned; (23) our dependence on key suppliers to obtain equipment and other supplies for our business on acceptable terms; (24) our inability to sell our new or used fleet in the amounts, or at the prices, we expect; (25) competition from existing and new competitors; (26) security breaches, cybersecurity attacks, failure to protect personal information, compliance with data protection laws and other significant disruptions in our information technology systems; (27) the costs of complying with environmental, safety and foreign laws and regulations, as well as other risks associated with non-U.S. operations, including currency exchange risk (including as a result of Brexit), and tariffs; (28) labor difficulties and labor-based legislation affecting our labor relations and operations generally; (29) increases in our maintenance and replacement costs and/or decreases in the residual value of our equipment; and (30) the effect of changes in tax law. For a more complete description of these and other possible risks and uncertainties, please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as to our subsequent filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date hereof, and we make no commitment to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements in order to reflect new information or subsequent events, circumstances or changes in expectations.

Contacts

Ted Grace

(203) 618-7122

Cell: (203) 399-8951

[email protected]

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