Ashtead rides boom in rental

Construction equipment firm Ashtead has said the weak pound and strong demand for rentals helped drive an 8 per cent rise in annual profits.

The group, which hires out diggers and tools, said the “flexibility” of rental was becoming increasingly important to customers.

It posted pre-tax profits of £765.1 million for the the year to end-april after seeing rental revenues surge 28 per cent. Underlyingpre-taxprofitslifted 7 per cent to £793.4m on a constant currency basis.

Ashtead chief executive Geoff Drabble said: “The reported results were impacted favourably by weaker sterling but, with 13 per cent growth in group rental revenue at constant exchange rates, we have good momentum.

“Our end markets remain strong and, most importantly, we continue to see structural change as our customers increasingly rely on the flexibility of rental.”

Ashtead makes a lot of its earnings in US dollars as it operates the Sunbelt brand in America, where it is one of the biggest rental firms.

It had said on reporting halfyear results last December that full-year results would be better than expected thanks to the pound’s plunge since the Brexit vote.

The group is also seen as a key beneficiary of US President Donald Trump’s proposed infrastructure spending boom.

Ashtead, which employs 14,220 people worldwide, added 73 new stores in the US over the course of the year.

The company also said it was confident over the outlook for the new financial year, thanks to a “good seasonal uplift in fleet on rent” throughout spring. Analysts at Stifel said the results showed “another strong year of growth”.