Ashtead delivers profit, earnings expectation reset
Ashtead reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of $697m for the first half and says its markets in North America remains robust. IGTV financial analyst @AngelineOng looks at why the company has had to reset earnings expectations.
(Video Transcript)
Slowdown due to few natural diasters, strikes
Now, another key stock that we're looking at is Ashtead, reporting an adjusted pre-tax profit of $697 million for the first half and a revenue of $2.8 billion. The equipment rental company's update comes after a November profit warning, which reset expectations for its performance.
Chief executive Brendan Horgan said the slowdown was due to a quiet wildfire and hurricane season in the US, as well as writers and actor strikes. Expectations for US growth has dropped from 13 to 16% to 11% to 13%, which will be mirrored across the group as the US made up 85% of sales in the first quarter or thereabouts.
Norther American markets healthy
And I also want to mention that the group said that its markets in North America remain robust with healthy demand. Since the start of this year, just looking at Ashtead's share price for you, it's gained around 4.5%. And this is the view at the moment, Ashtead there, down around 4%.
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