Results from Ardent Hire Solutions for the year ended 31st March 2025 show a pre-tax loss of 拢1.0m (2024: 拢2.8m) on revenue down 20% to 拢56.0m 聽(2024: 拢70.0m).
However, the revenue decline was less than had been anticipated because during the year Ardent got rid of almost all of its earthmoving inventory to focus on telehandlers. The company describes this strategic shift as moving from Ardent 1.0 to Ardent 2.0.
Another interpretation might be Back to the Future: Ardent was created in 2015 through the merger of telehandler specialist Fork Rent and general plant hirer One Call Hire under private equity ownership. Ardent 2.0 is essentially a U-turn on the original strategy, ditching Once Call Hire and becoming simply Fork Rent聽again.
Operating profit for Ardent 2.0 was down from 拢13.0m in the 2024 financial year to 拢6.9m in 2025. Net assets at year-end amounted to 拢43.9m, down from 拢59.8m at the start of the year
The directors prefer to judge the performance on Ebitda, calculated as operating profit after adding back depreciation, amortisation and any gains or losses related to asset disposals. By this measure it was a poor year too, with 2024鈥檚 Ebitda of 拢30.6m falling to 拢19.7m in the 2025 financial year.
With the narrower focus on telehandlers, operational intensity reduced and average hire durations increased. This enables the number of depots to be reduced from 10 to six and headcount was reduced similarly by 40%, from 237 to 181.
Chief financial officer Julian O'Neill wrote in the annual report: 鈥淒uring the year the company completed a significant transformation, with a shift from being a multi-category equipment rental specialist (Ardent 1.0) to being the leading specialist rental provider of material handling, lifting equipment and innovative solutions, dedicated to delivering spectacular customer service and value (Ardent 2.0). This transformation took 12 months and has surpassed all expectations.
鈥淭his transformation reduced revenue and Ebitda but was driven by a clear economic strategy, with the objective of driving high quality, sustainable operating cash generation, with reductions being outweighed by reduced cost of replacement capex. With the company鈥檚 new focus on telehandlers and rotos, both of these objectives have been achieved.鈥�
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