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Ashtead Group PLC on Tuesday reported a sluggish end to the financial year with profit and sales falling in the fourth quarter. In response, shares in the London-based industrial equipment hire company fell 1.3% to 4,324.00 pence each on Tuesday morning. Pretax profit fell 6.0% to $392 million in the three months to April 30 from $417 million a year prior. Revenue dropped 3.8% to $2.53 billion in the quarter from $2.63 billion, although rental revenue rose 0.9% to $2.33 billion from $2.31 billion. For the financial year to April 30, pretax profit fell 5.2% to $2.00 billion from $2.11 billion the year before. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 2.7% to $5.02 billion for the full-year from $4.89 billion. Annual revenue decreased 0.6% to $10.79 billion from $10.86 billion, with rental revenue up 3.6% to a record $9.98 billion from $9.63 billion. The drop in annual revenue reflected lower sales of used equipment in the US, which fell to $338 million from $720 million. Overall, North American General Tool total revenue, including new and used equipment, merchandise and consumable sales, fell 4.8% to $6.40 billion from $6.72 billion. In the North American Specialty business, rental only revenue climbed 11% to $2.38 billion from $2.15 billion, driven by both volume and rate improvement. The UK business generated rental only revenue of $599 million, up 2.2% from $586 million, a year prior. Ashtead declared a final dividend of 72.0 US cents, down from 89.25 cents a year ago, making the total payout 2.9% higher at 108.0 cents compared to 105.0 cents. Looking ahead, Ashtead said it is eyeing between 0% and 4% rental revenue growth for the current financial year, and $2.0 billion to $2.3 billion in free cash flow. In the year to April 2025, Ashtead reported free cash flow of $1.79 billion. Plans to move its primary stock listing to the US remain on track for the first quarter of 2026. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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