Ashtead to top year forecasts

8th Mar 2011 07:49

Plant hire group Ashtead expects to beat expectations for the full-year after narrowing third quarter losses and ramping up revenue by 15%.The loss before tax and one-off items dropped to £1.7m in the three months to 31 January, seasonally the most difficult period, from £12m a year ago. Revenue jumped to £221.34m from £187.3m.Nine-month profits more than tripled to £28.3m from £8.1m as revenue grew 8% to £626.7m.Yields at Sunbelt in the US rose 2% over the nine months following a 5% increase in the third quarter, pushing rental revenue growth up 11% for the three months.At A-Plant in the UK, yields were down 3% for the nine months, but Ashtead says UK yields are on an improving trend, with 1% year on year growth in the quarter making rental revenue growth of 2% for Q3."Our high levels of fleet on rent and our continued focus on yield and costs have produced strong results for the first nine months with profits now £20m ahead of last year," chief executive Geoff Drabble said. "Based on our third quarter performance which continued in February, it is now likely that the full year outcome will exceed our earlier expectations."