Wednesday preview: Ashtead set to reveal strong first quarter

1st Sep 2015 14:44

(ShareCast News) - British industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group is expected to report strong first quarter results on Wednesday.The consensus forecast is for £151m pre-tax profit for the three months to July, up from £120m previously.Numis said while there is an "obvious drag from oil and gas exposure" the broker believes there is plenty of demand in other areas such as infrastructure and commercial."We remain positive on the shares and believe the recent period of share price underperformance represents a buying opportunity," said analyst Steve Woolf, giving the group an 'add rating.In economic data, a report on UK construction from Markit and CIPS will be released in morning trade. Analysts predict the purchasing managers' index will rise to 57.5 in August from 57.1 a month earlier.The US will see the release of factory orders data which is expected to reveal a 0/9% increase in July, following a 1.8% climb in June.Wednesday 02 September INTERIMS Biome Technologies, Concurrent Technologies, Fishing Republic , Johnson Service Group INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Man Group INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00) Factory Orders (US) (00:00) Goods Orders (US) (15:00) Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00) AGMS Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust, Ashtead Group, Lindsell Train Inv Trust, PCG Entertainment (DI), Severfield TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS Diploma UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS PMI Construction (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE 1pm Q1 Ashtead Group