Ashtead Q1 profits up on strong North American trading
By Duncan Ferris
Date: Tuesday 10 Sep 2019
(Sharecast News) - Industrial equipment rental firm Ashtead reported a rise in first quarter profits on the back of higher revenues in its US and Canadian markets.
Profit before tax increased 8% to £304.7m, a slowdown from the 23% growth achieved in the first quarter of the previous year, while earnings per share jumped 12% to 49.1p.
The company on Tuesday said its revenues for the three months to July 31 were up 17% to £1.3bn as its Sunbelt US and Sunbelt Canada businesses delivered 18% and 26% rental revenue growth respectively.
Meanwhile, its A-Plant unit's rental revenue fell 1% reflecting the more competitive landscape within a flatter UK market.
To date, Ashtead said it had spent £300m under the share buyback programme announced in December 2017, and will now increase the buyback to £125m per quarter resulting in a total outlay of £675m.
Having invested a total of £717m in capital and bolt on acquisitions in the period, the FTSE 100-listed company added 27 new locations and remains confident in its medium-term prospects amid a continued focus on organic growth supplemented by targeted acquisitions
Chief executive Brendan Horgan said he expected business performance to be in line with expectations and was confident in medium term prospects.
(Writing by Frank Prenesti. Editing by Michele Maatouk)
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