Ashtead lifts profit forecast as US business surges

Construction equipment rental group Ashtead has lifted its full-year profit forecasts as its US business booms.

The London-listed group, which has a market capitalisation of £25bn, said that the outlook for the business was helped by “the increasing number of mega-projects and recent US legislative acts”.

Ashtead generates about 80 per cent of its revenues in the US, where Congress has recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers companies almost $370bn in clean energy incentives.

Shares in Ashtead, which have climbed almost 30 per cent over the past 12 months, were up 3 per cent in early trading on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 group had already been a beneficiary of the disruption to supply chains caused by the pandemic that prompted companies to hire rather than buy equipment including scaffolding and excavators.

Over the past year, the company said it had made 38 acquisitions in the US, adding 120 locations.

“Our business is performing well with clear momentum in strong end markets, which are enhanced by the increasing number of mega-projects and recent US legislative acts,” said chief executive Brendan Horgan in a statement on Tuesday.