18.06.2009

Ashtead confirms full year

Ashtead, owner of Sunbelt in the USA and A-Plant in the UK has issued it full year results and said that rental markets have stabilised in May and early June.

Revenues for the full year were £1.07 billion up two percent while pre tax profits dropped 22 percent to £87.4 million.

Sunbelt

Sunbelt revenues for 2008/9 were down 10 percent on dollar terms to $1.45 billion, however the stronger dollar meant that this converted to an increase of over six percent in Sterling to £865 million. Operating income for the year declined 27 percent to $242 million

However in the fourth quarter Sunbelt revenues plunged 24 percent on a fleet eight percent smaller than the prior year, lower utilisation at 61 percent (compared to 66% for the year) and rates down 14 percent.

A-Plant

A-Plant annual revenues declined 12 percent to £208 million due to a fleet five percent smaller, utilisation at 68 percent compared to 74 percent last year and an 11 percent fall in rate yields.

Capital expenditure at the group was £238 million down from £331 million last year, the company says that it will spend around £100 million in the current year, largely for replacement equipment.

Ashtead's chief executive, Geoff Drabble, said: “Whilst infrastructure and utility work continues to hold up, the relative lack of finance available for private sector commercial development makes it inevitable that construction volumes overall will remain weak.”

“Our business model and capital structure are designed to cope with the cyclical nature of our markets so we were well prepared for this downturn and this is reflected in our robust performance. We took prompt action to control costs and also to address fleet size which is helping us sustain good utilisation.”

“May and early June have seen rental volumes in line with our expectations whilst rental yields have shown some tentative signs of flattening month on month. As a result, the Board confirms that its current expectations regarding 2009/10 performance are unchanged from those described in the trading update issued on 11 May.”

“We continue to believe that the fundamentals of our markets remain attractive and that, with our continuing focus on meeting the challenges of current market conditions and on cash generation, we are well positioned for the next phase of the cycle.”