A-Plant profits rise in record year for Ashtead
A-PLANT, the Warrington-based equipment rental company has reported strong annual figures as operating profits surged 67% to £12.2m.
The company, which has around 2,000 staff at more than 100 branches nationwide, said turnover in the year to the end of April was up 9% to £206.1m.
Birchwood Park-based A-Plant is the UK operation of listed London-headquartered company Ashtead Group, which also owns Sunbelt Rentals, the second-larges tool and plant hire operatorn in the US.
Sunbelt accounts for more than 80% of Ashtead’s revenues, which in the year rose 20% to £1.3bn. Bottom-line underlying results came in at a record £247m, up from £131m last year.
Ashtead chief executive Geoff Drabble said: “We are delighted to report another excellent set of results with key financial and non-financial metrics at record levels.
“Our largely organic investment strategy has again delivered strong revenue growth together with margin and return on investment improvement. We continue to make significant investment in the business with capital expenditure of £580m in the year and a similar level planned for the coming year. As a result of our strong margins, we are able to support this investment while at the same time continuing to delever.
“With this momentum established in the business, cyclical recovery still to come and a strong balance sheet to support growth opportunities, we anticipate that our profits in the coming year will be ahead of our earlier expectations.”
