United Rentals (NYSE: URI) today announced that it expected full-year 2012 pro-forma total revenue in a range of $4.6 billion to $4.7 billion, compared to 2011 pro-forma total revenue of $4.133 billion. In addition, the company said it expected full-year 2012 pro-forma adjusted EBITDA in a range of $1.95 billion to $2.0 billion, compared to 2011 pro-forma adjusted EBITDA of $1.49 billion. The company completed the acquisition of RSC Holdings, Inc. on April 30, 2012. The company's pro-forma guidance assumes the results of operations of RSC were combined for the full year 2011 and 2012.

The company further reaffirmed its 2012 pro-forma outlook as follows:

  • Increase in rental rates of approximately 6.5% year-over-year;
  • Time utilization of 68.0%;
  • Net rental capital expenditures of between $1.075 billion and $1.125 billion, after gross purchases of between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion; and
  • Full year free cash usage (excluding the impact of merger related costs) in the range of $90 million to $140 million.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world, with an integrated network of 969 rental locations in 48 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The company's approximately 11,500 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers for rent approximately 3,400 classes of equipment with a total original cost of $7.31 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor's MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 2000 Index® and is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

Free cash (usage) flow, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures as defined under the rules of the SEC. Free cash (usage) flow represents net cash provided by operating activities, less purchases of rental and non-rental equipment plus proceeds from sales of rental and non-rental equipment and excess tax benefits from share-based payment arrangements, net. EBITDA represents the sum of net (loss) income from continuing operations, loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes, (benefit) provision for income taxes, interest expense, net, interest expense-subordinated convertible debentures, depreciation of rental equipment and non-rental depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA plus the sum of RSC merger related costs, restructuring charge, stock compensation expense, net, the impact on used equipment cost of sales related to the fair value mark-up of acquired RSC fleet and the gain on sale of our software subsidiary. The company believes that: (i) free cash (usage) flow provides useful additional information concerning cash flow available to meet future debt service obligations and working capital requirements and (ii) EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA provide useful information about operating performance and period-over-period growth. These measures, however, should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or cash flows from operating activities under GAAP as indicators of operating performance or liquidity. Information reconciling forward-looking free cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP financial measures is unavailable to the company without unreasonable effort.

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) a slowdown in the recovery of North American construction and industrial activities, which decreased during the economic downturn and significantly affected our revenues and profitability, may further reduce demand for equipment and prices that we can charge; (2) a decrease in levels of infrastructure spending, including lower than expected government funding for stimulus-related construction projects; (3) our highly leveraged capital structure, 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) inability to access the capital that our business may require; (5) challenges associated with past or future acquisitions, such as undiscovered liabilities, costs, integration issues and/or the inability to achieve the cost and revenue synergies expected; (6) our rates and time utilization being less than anticipated; and (7) our costs being more than anticipated, the inability to realize expected savings and the inability to obtain key equipment and supplies; 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, 2011, 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.

United Rentals
Fred Bratman, 203-618-7318
Cell: 917-847-4507
fbratman@ur.com