Revenues are still undergoing a depression at the White-van man’s group said the rental organisation in a statement yesterday.

However, despite the reduction in turnover the Northgate group said that the last 6 months had shown some improvement in pick-up utilisation rates. The company attributed the slow but sure signs of improvement in the second half of the year to a increased second-hand vehicle sales and a reduction in fleet size. CEO Steve Smith said that the results were as to be expected given the economic downturn which has led to a reduced customer base. Smith claimed that while the first half of the year was difficult for all of the industry but that the recent stabilisation has meant a noticeable rental increase over the past two months.

The UK rental division experienced the sharpest fall in revenue, which constitutes some 40 percent of total turnover. UK rental revenues fell to £157m – a drop of 10 percent. Operating margins also fell from last year’s level of 15.7 percent to 14.9 percent this year to date

In Spain, the group’s rental division, which constitutes around one-third of total turnover, was slightly better as revenues fell by just 2 percent.

Year-on-year margins in both countries have fallen but greatly reduced fleet size has meant percentages of vehicles leased at any given time have been boosted. In Britain, the size of the rental fleet was reduced by over 8,000 to 61,000 total vehicles while Spain cut its numbers from 64,800 to just over 55,000.