Interim Results

For the six months ended

30 September 2006

Rental and sale of specialist products and services to construction, civil

engineering, rail, oil and gas exploration, events and industrial markets

The Equipment Rental Specialist

Jeremy Pilkington – Chairman

Neil Stothard – Group Managing Director

Mike Holt – Group Finance Director

Introduction

Mike Holt

Group Finance Director

Financial Review

Financial Highlights

H1 H1

30 Sep 06 30 Sep 05

Revenue £61.3m £47.4m +29%

PBIT £8.8m £5.6m +56%

Operating Margin 14.3% 11.9% +20%

PBT £7.8m £5.5m +42%

31 Mar 06

ROCE 16.0% 15.4%

Gearing 57% 54%

Net Debt £34.7m £32.6m

Earnings per Share and Dividend

H1 H1 Full Year

30 Sep 06 30 Sep 05 31 Mar 06

Basic EPS 12.71p 8.96p +42% 17.49p

Fully diluted EPS 12.16p 8.66p +40% 16.83p

Dividend per share 2.25p 1.95p +15% 6.60p

Tax Rate 30.0% 29.0% 28.8%

Balance Sheet

30 Sep 06 31 Mar 06 30 Sep 05

£m £m £m

Property, plant and equipment 69.6 66.1 51.3

Intangibles/Goodwill 33.8 33.6 9.8

Non Current Assets 103.4 99.7 61.1

Net Working Capital 7.7 8.3 7.8

Pension Obligations (2.7) (2.9) (3.7)

Deferred Tax (4.7) (4.2) (2.9)

Deferred Consideration (7.9) (7.9) -

Capital Employed 95.7 92.9 62.3

Net Debt (34.7) (32.6) (5.7)

Net Assets 61.0 60.3 56.6

Operating Cash Flow

H1 H1 Full Year

30 Sep 06 30 Sep 05 31 Mar 06

£m £m £m

Operating Profit 8.8 5.6 +56% 11.5

Depreciation 6.9 5.7 12.2

Profits on asset disposals (1.1) (1.0) (2.3)

EBITDA 14.6 10.3 +42% 21.4

Change in net working capital (0.2) (0.6) 1.8

Share option provision 0.5 0.2 0.3

Operating cash flow 14.9 9.9 +51% 23.5

Cash to profit ratio 169% 177% 203%

Cash flow per share 35p 23p 54p

Debtor days 69 days 70 days 68 days

Cash Flow

H1 H1 Full Year

30 Sep 06 30 Sep 05 31 Mar 06

£m £m £m

Operating cash flow 14.9 9.9 23.5

Capex (15.1) (8.3) (15.5)

Asset disposals 3.3 2.7 6.2

Interest (0.6) (0.1) (0.6)

Tax (0.9) (1.4) (3.1)

Free cash flow 1.6 2.8 10.5

Pensions (0.2) (0.2) (0.9)

Acquisitions (0.1) (4.8) (36.1)

Dividend - - (2.6)

Purchase of own shares (3.4) (1.1) (1.1)

Movement in net debt (2.1) (3.3) (30.2)

Fleet Investment 14.3 11.3 34.3

Net Debt

30 Sep 06 31 Mar 06 30 Sep 05

£m £m £m

Bank loans 36.5 33.5 8.0

Loan notes 0.1 1.0 -

HP leases 3.1 3.7 0.1

Cash (5.0) (5.6) (2.4)

Net Debt 34.7 32.6 5.7

Interest Cover 9.0x 14.5x 41.9x

Bank Facilities £55m £55m £15.5m

Excellent Financial Health

• Operating cash flows remain strong (1.7x profits)

• Gearing remains relatively modest (57%)

• Interest cover remains robust (9x)

• Balance sheet capable of supporting further growth

Neil Stothard

Group Managing Director

Business Review

Vp’s Investment Case

• Specialist business with diversified market exposure

• Strong services element

• Market leading positions

• Excellent cash generation and financial strength

• Proven management team with strength in depth

• Consistent performer with good returns

Vp Markets Exposure

34%

18%12%

10%

8%

8%

6% 4% Construction

Civil Engineering

Rail

Housebuilding

Oil and Gas

Other

Events

Transmission

Markets

Market Background Vp Division

Construction / Housing Stable Hire Station, UK Forks, Groundforce, TPA

Civil Engineering Water slow Groundforce, Hire Station, TPA, UK Forks

Oil and Gas Strong global Airpac Bukom Oilfield Services

Rail Less volatile Torrent Trackside, TPA, Groundforce

Transmission £1bn 5 year plan TPA, Hire Station

Events Strong, seasonal TPA, Hire Station

Business Performance

• Record operating profits up 56% to £8.8m

• 30% of profit growth is organic

• Substantial revenue growth

• Operating margins improved by 20%

• Fleet investment £14.3m (+26%)

• ROCE 16%

Segmental Analysis

30 Sep 06 30 Sep 05 30 Sep 06 30 Sep 05

£m £m £m £m

Groundforce 13.0 11.5 +13% 2.8 2.6 +8%

UK Forks 6.9 7.5 -8% 0.7 1.3 -49%

Airpac Bukom 5.0 2.2 +127% 1.2 0.5 +146%

Hire Station 21.2 19.4 +9% 1.6 0.9 +79%

Torrent Trackside 6.6 6.2 +6% 0.9 0.8 +18%

TPA 7.7 - 1.8 -

Continuing Operations 60.4 46.8 +29% 9.0 6.0 +50%

Pivotal 0.9 0.6 (0.2) (0.4)

TOTAL 61.3 47.4 8.8 5.6

Operating Margin 14.3% 11.9%

H1 Sales H1 Profits

Main Influences This Period

• Acquisitions integrated successfully

• AMP4 activity remained quiet

• Oil and gas buoyant

• Construction and Housebuilding steady

• Events market seasonality

• Non-core training business sold to management

Growth Strategy Progressing Well

• Interim results endorse growth plan initiatives to date

• Organic capital investment has been strong

• Product diversification in most areas

• New markets e.g. transmission, events

• New activities e.g. formwork, pipe fitting

• Acquisition post half year end – MEP Hire

Maintaining Momentum

121.5

99.490.0

83.575.5

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140 15.8

11.510.2

9.08.4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

PBIT (£m)Revenue (£m)

22.5

17.4916.31

14.0613.09

0

5

10

15

20

25

Earnings (pence per share) 16.015.416.3

14.713.2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

ROCE (%)

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Actuals Brewin Forecast

Share Price

VP Total Shareholder Return

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Dec-01 J un-02 Dec-02 J un-03 Dec-03 J un-04 Dec-04 J un-05 Dec-05 J un-06 Dec-06

Source: Bloomberg

VpFTSE Small Cap

Jeremy Pilkington

Chairman

Outlook

Future

• Excellent organic growth opportunities for our businesses

• Potential for further acquisitive expansion

• Balance sheet very capable of further leverage

• Consistent strategy to lead in our chosen markets

• Overall the markets we serve are in robust health with

good visibility

• Our growth strategy remains on course

Interim Results

For the six months ended

30 September 2006

Rental and sale of specialist products and services to construction, civil

engineering, rail, oil and gas exploration, events and industrial markets

The Equipment Rental Specialist