Ashtead has been a very good recovery stock.One to watch leading up to results 13th December and beyond.

According to my broker who had a chat with company secretary, AHT debt is long term and does not need to be renegotiated until 2011, is therefore at good price.

Utilisation of new acquisition is now at 70% up from only 55% when purchased.

Economic slow down in US will benefit AHT as constructors will reduce spend on new equipment and opt to hire it instead.

There is also possibility that AHT will sell uk plant hire A-plant, this will obviously benefit balance sheet immensely.

For these reasons I am sticking and will add if there is any further weakness.

Darradev
There you are, its moving up - someone took note lol
Dave

Dave :-)


Now will someone please ask GOO and MNT management to pull the finger out......

What are the prospects for a turnaround here? The chart certainly tells a sad story,but it must all rest on an upturn in US housing ,which doesn,t look to be coming any time soon

From The Times, 21 Nov:

Rumour of the day

Data released early by the American Institute of Architects showed that construction demand had picked up in October from the previous month, thanks to stronger demand for schools and hospitals. ABN Amro believes that the price of Ashtead, the construction equipment hirer, off p to 81p, is wrongly factoring in a US construction crash.

If you can catch this one at the right time ,it could be a big winner.
At the beginning of 2004,it went from below 20 to 240 in early 2006.
However,might be a while before it touches bottom.

Todays excellent results suggest that activity in the commercial construction sector is still strong perhaps the so called economists have got it wrong and fail to see the underlying strength of the US economy.

The devaluation of the dollar "may" have stimulated their economy judging by employment figures etc.

HI FRED I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE IDEA???MAKE THE REST OF US PAY FOR THEIR WAY OF LIFE/

another tough day in AHT land today. unless the Dow recovers the shorters may take hold again. a difficult long to hold at the moment but i reckon this will be a lot higher in the spring.

Be careful, telegraph recommended selling in the short to medium term, as they don't believe that company will be able to keep up level of contracts as US budget shrinks, there are concerns over its debt of 900 million and market cap of 400million, understandably so, However US may need to spend on projects such as deteriorating infrastructure soon to boost jobs and stop the US infrastructure falling apart like certain bridges, so outlook isn't as bad as they say in my opinion.

Waiting and watching first before committing further, at some point this will be a very attractive stock but market certainly doesn't like it at the moment

hi steveo I READ THE SAME STORIES IN THE AMERICAN PRESS//so doing as yourself/

Steveo you have hit the nail on the head re deteriorating infrastructure, like many countries in the 'developed' world the USA has not spent on their infrastructure, I read somewhere that in 2005 their drinking water was given the lowest grading possible by the American Society of Civil Engineers. So AHT should be a beneficiary of any increase in spending on infrastructure.
2517

Anyone with interest in AHT here?

Is this 'on the up' or just tracking sideways at about SP 80?

Any views welcome.

Tricky one this, I don't hold them but i've been in & out of AHT a few times over a 4-5 year period, sentiment is against it, ie the US housing market but they are not unduly exposed to this area so maybe their results on the 4th March will give a clearer picture, debt is high, but I think they could surprise on the upside, all imo of course. Just released some funds from PFL so I may take a look.
2517

Hi all .................. I too have been in / ot of this one over the last couple of years.

But what a drop today.

Tempted to get in at some point .......... Charts suggest it is oversold.

More views welcome.

Good luck
Amar

See what you mean Amar, this one has been off my radar for a couple of weeks so hadn't realised they have dropped from the low 80's. mmm
2517

what's going on here?
down 14%-8 3/4

And yet the Company keeps buying shares almost everday??????

Are any of us brave enough to dip in ................ or do we wait for results?

Cheers
Amar

Toya kindly pointed my sticky fingers at this one, so i bought a few on Friday .... wonder how the news below will affect sp tomorrow ......


Equipment rental group Ashtead Plc., which has recently seen its share price spike on bid rumours, is on the verge of selling its oil and gas technology division to a private equity firm for about 100 million pounds, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
The newspaper said it has learned the company received final-round offers for the division from buyout firms Phoenix Equity Partners and Barclays Private Equity.
Lloyds Development Capital was also in the final round, but it is not clear whether it decided to submit an offer for the business, the article added.
Banking sources said one of the private-equity bidders is likely to move into exclusive discussions in the next couple of weeks and a deal could complete soon afterwards, the newspaper said.