Ashtead Share Price Jumps on Record First Half Profit
December 10, 2014 10:35 am
Equipment rental company Ashstead (AHT.L) today posted a record first half profit causing shares to move upwards. The company also revised upwards its full year profit expectations.
In the first half Ashstead (AHT.L) profits rose 33% to a record £265.5M, with pretax profit in the second quarter up 33% to £145M. 8% higher than analyst expectations. Total group revenues on a constant currency basis were up 23% on last year at £987.3M.
Ashstead (AHT.L) also announced an interim dividend of 3p per share, 33% better than last time.
Chief Executive, Geoff Drabble commenting said “The Group delivered another strong quarter with record underlying pre-tax profits of £266m, up 33% on the prior year. It was particularly pleasing to see a strong contribution from both Sunbelt and A-Plant.
We continue to execute on our strategy, focused on organic growth supplemented by bolt-on acquisitions. We invested £588m in capital expenditure and a further £107m on bolt-on acquisitions in the period. Given the profitable growth opportunities evident in our markets, we are increasing our full year guidance for capital expenditure to a range of £925m to £975m.
Even with these significant levels of investment, we continue to grow responsibly, generating strong returns and maintaining leverage within our stated objectives.
With both divisions performing well, recovering end markets, and a proven track record of market share gains, we now anticipate a full year result ahead of our previous expectations.”
Shares in Ashstead (AHT.L) were trading at 1157p, mid morning. Up 80p (7.5%)
Equipment rental company Ashstead (AHT.L) today posted a record first half profit causing shares to move upwards. The company also revised upwards its full year profit expectations.
In the first half Ashstead (AHT.L) profits rose 33% to a record £265.5M, with pretax profit in the second quarter up 33% to £145M. 8% higher than analyst expectations. Total group revenues on a constant currency basis were up 23% on last year at £987.3M.
Ashstead (AHT.L) also announced an interim dividend of 3p per share, 33% better than last time.
Chief Executive, Geoff Drabble commenting said “The Group delivered another strong quarter with record underlying pre-tax profits of £266m, up 33% on the prior year. It was particularly pleasing to see a strong contribution from both Sunbelt and A-Plant.
We continue to execute on our strategy, focused on organic growth supplemented by bolt-on acquisitions. We invested £588m in capital expenditure and a further £107m on bolt-on acquisitions in the period. Given the profitable growth opportunities evident in our markets, we are increasing our full year guidance for capital expenditure to a range of £925m to £975m.
Even with these significant levels of investment, we continue to grow responsibly, generating strong returns and maintaining leverage within our stated objectives.
With both divisions performing well, recovering end markets, and a proven track record of market share gains, we now anticipate a full year result ahead of our previous expectations.”
Shares in Ashstead (AHT.L) were trading at 1157p, mid morning. Up 80p (7.5%)
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