Improving U.S. and British construction markets helped equipment rental group Ashtead, parent to U.S.-based Sunbelt Rentals, to report a record high in pretax profit and should enable it to maintain momentum.
Expressing confidence in the company's medium-term prospects, Chief Executive Geoff Drabble said it was benefiting from increased demand for commercial properties on both sides of the Atlantic.
Rental revenue at Ashtead’s U.S. rental operation, Sunbelt Rentals, grew 25%, and the company’s British operation, A-Plant, saw 19% rental revenue growth.
"We still remain very early cycle in construction markets... We are seeing far more activity levels, we are seeing bigger scale projects, we are starting to see some of those signature projects," he told Reuters.
The company rents out everything from small tools to large diggers and water pumps and has grown rapidly over the past few years as hard-up customers have turned to hiring equipment rather than buying and maintaining it.
Pretax profit rose to 490 million pounds ($764 million) for the year ended April 30, up from 362 million pounds a year ago and just ahead of analyst expectations.
