Credit hire and accident management group Helphire is fighting its way towards profit, according to its 2012 trading year results.

While continuing its restructuring, its preliminary results for the 12 months to the end of June 2012 show it slashed its pre-tax loss down to £6.3m from the 2011’s £34.1m loss.

It recorded a statutory operating loss of £0.7m, reduced from the prior year’s £25.4m.

Net debt was further reduced by £22.9m to £110.8m. Turnoved declined to £224.3m from £234.8m.

Hire duration, a key driver of the group’s performance, continued to decline by 12.3% to an average of 16.4 days, from the 18.7 day average of 2011. As a consequence, although the volume of hires was flat on the prior year, the total of hire days fell 12.6% to 2.1m.

Chief executive Martin Ward said the improvements in operational delivery and the quality of business undertaken, together with the steps made to improve margins, have enabled the group to strengthen its performance in challenging market conditions.

“The underlying benefits of a revised business model, a lower cost base, an efficient cash recovery function and a recent small improvement in hire lengths gives the board further encouragement for the future,” he added.

Its AGM will be on November 16.