Speedy Hire slips to a loss as it takes on additional costs

It is sometimes difficult to judge the dividing line between a set of results that management insists are ‘resilient’ but that on paper simply look poor.

Take Speedy Hire (SDY). Chief executive Dan Evans used the aforementioned ‘r’ word to describe half-year numbers that throw up few positives. Sales, profits and cash all moved the wrong way, and net debt keeps ticking up, pushing finance costs higher.