LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Ashtead Group (AHT.L), a British industrial equipment
rental firm, on Tuesday recorded a decline in pre-tax earnings for the fourth
quarter, amidst higher operating costs and depreciation. However, the company
posted an improvement in revenue, helped by an increase in rental revenue.

For the three-month period to April 30, the Group reported a pre-tax profit of
$417 million, lesser than $465.6 million, registered for the same period last
year.

Excluding items, profit before tax was $446 million, compared with $496 million
in 2023.

Net profit slipped to $324.7 million or 73.9 cents per share from previous
year's $346.1 million or 78.7 cents per share.

Adjusted income per share moved down to 79.3 cents per share from 84.3 cents a
year ago.

Operating profit stood at $561.2 million as against $574.6 million a year ago.

EBITDA was $1.141 billion, up from last year's $1.073 billion.

Operating costs were $1.486 billion, higher than $1.370 billion in 2023.

Depreciation rose to $551.3 million from $468.6 million a year ago.

Revenue stood at $2.627 billion, higher than $2.443 billion last year.

The company posted rental revenue of $2.313 billion, compared with last year's
$2.126 billion.

The Board will pay a final dividend of 89.25 cents per share, higher than last
year's 85 cents per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 105 cents
per share, compared with previous year's 100 cents.

The final dividend will be paid on September 10 to shareholders on the register
as of August 9.

Looking ahead, for the full year, Ashtead expects rental revenue growth of 5
percent to 8 percent, with gross capital expenditure of $3 billion to $3.3
billion.



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