The British rental-equipment firm, Lavendon Group has announced that its performance improved in the first-half of the year and the results were above the expectations of analysts. For the first-half of the year 2011, overall revenues of Lavendon increased 8% excluding ex-fleet equipment sales, as compared to the 106 million pounds last year.

The Lavendon Group rents out aerial work platforms for the construction sector. The company has said that the growth and rise in the first-half was propelled by its stronger performance in Germany, Belgium and France. Lavendon is expecting to acquire a charge of 5 million pounds during the second half of 2011.

The shares of the company gained 8% and were traded at 111.75 pounds at 0702 GMT on Monday on the London Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, the company has also announced to close its operations in the Spanish rental market later this year. The revenues of the company in Spain rose 5%, but the business now only represents only 4% of the sale of the company.

The company said in a statement, “The capital currently invested in our Spanish operation will achieve better returns if substantially re-deployed to our other markets”.