Earthmoving equipment firm Emeco Holdings is back in the black after a rise in resources sector activity in the first half.

It says it will spend $165 million on new gear this financial year to meet rising demand.

Emeco, which continues to eye growth opportunities, on Tuesday reported a net profit for the half year to June 30 of $49.6 million.

The result is a turnaround from its $49.3 million loss in 2009/10, which accounted for $90.4 million in one-off impairment and restructuring charges associated with business closures in Europe, the US and Australia amid a severe downturn in the mining sector.

Chief executive Keith Gordon said the company saw continued growth in resources sector activity in the first half, which translated to strong demand for Emeco’s equipment rental and maintenance services.

Mr Gordon said Emeco achieved high utilisation across all of its businesses during the period, although the Canadian and Indonesian markets had proven softer in the second half so far.

“However, underlying fundamentals remain strong with global utilisation increasing to 83 per cent since the start of FY12,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Gordon said Emeco continued to work on improving its core business after refocusing in 2010/11 on renting large mobile gear to growing mining markets.

“As a result, we are investing $165 million in additional large mining equipment in FY12 to meet growing demand,” he said.

“We also remain alert to adjacent growth opportunities either through acquisition or geographic expansion.”

He said the outlook for the resources sector was positive and further growth in earthmoving volumes was expected, but noted emerging risks to global economic growth and the potential impact on commodity demand.

The company declared a final dividend of three cents per share, adding to an interim ordinary dividend of two cents per share and an interim special dividend of five cents per share, all fully franked.

Shares in Emeco inched one cent higher to 98 cents.