B2B van hire specialist Northgate issued a trading update for the last three months this morning, reporting slow but steady growth in its UK van rental division. The company had 47,000 vehicles on hire as of 12 March, a 1,100 increase since the end of October.

Northgate said that it experienced the usual seasonal dip during November and December, with vehicles on hire dropping by 2,000 during this period, but that the fall had been smaller than during the same period in 2012, when vehicles on hire dropped by 2,900.

The firm’s fleet utilisation averaged 87% over the last three months, compared to 88% the previous year, but its fleet size has continued to grow, rising to 53,200 from 52,800 at the end of October — an increase of less than 1%, following the 5.8% increase seen during the previous quarter. Taken together, these figures suggest to me that Northgate needs a strong spring/summer/autumn — or its fleet expansion could start to look premature.

Financial update: Stock market followers will note that UK van rental specialist Northgate plc (LON:NTG) took something of a bath following its latest update today. The firm’s share price was down by around 6.5% in late trading, but this has to be seen in the context of its 122% gain over the last two years — a pause for breath was definitely overdue, given the firm’s pedestrian growth prospects.

Northgate says that it is trading in line with expectations, which suggest earnings per share of 33p for the year to 30 April 2014, leaving the firm’s shares on a forecast P/E of around 16, with a prospective yield of 1.6% — definitely not cheap, when its 98% gearing is taken into account.