By Anthony O. Goriainoff


Ashtead Group said pretax profit for its fiscal fourth quarter fell after it booked higher costs, but that its markets in the U.S. remained robust, benefiting from healthy demand.

The London-listed equipment-rental group said Tuesday that pretax profit for the quarter ended April 30 was $417 million compared with $465.6 million the year before.

Revenue was $2.63 billion compared with $2.44 billion in the year-prior period and expectations of $2.66 billion, taken from FactSet and based on two analysts' forecasts.

Rental revenue was $2.13 billion, flat on year.

Pretax profit for the year was $2.11 billion compared with $2.16 billion for fiscal 2023 and a FactSet consensus of $2.14 billion, based on six analysts' views. Full-year revenue rose to $10.86 billion from $9.67 billion the year before, in line with consensus of $10.86 billion taken from FactSet and based on 16 analysts' forecasts. For the year Ashtead reported rental revenue of $9.63 billion compared with $8.7 billion the year before.

For fiscal 2025, the company guided for rental revenue growth of 5% to 8%.

The board declared a final dividend of 89.25 cents a share, taking the total for the year to 105 cents a share, up from 100.0 cents a share the year before.


Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-18-24 0247ET