Ashtead on track to meet full-year expectations

Equipment rental group Ashtead said its business was performing well and that it was on track to meet expectations for annual profit.

The US-focused FTSE 100 outfit, whose financial year runs to the end of April, published a brief trading update to coincide with an investor event in New York.

Ashtead said: “The group has continued to perform well in the fourth quarter of the current financial year and we expect full year results to be in line with our expectations.”

Chief executive Geoff Drabble and his team will brief investors on its North American business, Sunbelt Rentals, focusing on markets beyond the construction sector. A visit to a Sunbelt site on Long Island will be used to show how bolt-on acquisitions are part of Ashtead’s growth plans.

On 6 March Ashtead reported a 21% increase in rental revenue to £2.6bn for the nine months to the end of January, helped by work supporting the clean-up after US Hurricanes. Underlying pre-tax profit rose 24% to £742m on a constant currency basis.