Ashtead Share Discussion Threads

[broadwood] 14/6/2016 13:25

That's the beauty of this stock - management never give you a reason to sell.

Could you find a more positive outlook for a FTSE stock than this.

After a strong fourth quarter where profit margins grew to record levels, Ashtead has announced a bumper dividend and a £200m share buyback.
The construction equipment rental group proposed hoisting the final dividend to 18.5p, meaning the total payment of 22.5p will be up 48% on the previous year.

With rental revenue up 16% and pre-tax profits surging 42% in the fourth quarter, for the full year Ashtead's underlying revenue rose 17% year-on-year to £2.26bn and underlying profits by 24% to £645.3m.

Underlying earnings per share soared 47% in the final three months of the year to lift full year EPS 28% to 85.1p.

Ashtead's chief executive, Geoff Drabble said the continued improvement in margins saw group EBITDA margins hit a record 46% and this led to the hiked dividend and buyback of up to £200m.

"These strong margins, together with the natural moderation of our replacement fleet expenditure, mean we are entering a phase where we anticipate both good earnings growth and significant free cash flow generation. We therefore have the flexibility to continue both to invest in our long-term structural growth opportunity and enhance returns to shareholders."

The principal driver of the outstanding performance is the North American arm, Sunbelt, where rental revenue growth continued to enjoy cyclical and structural trends.

Like-for-like growth there of 12% saw Sunbelt take market share and, helped by 7% contribution from bolt-on acquisitions and greenfield openings, saw the unit grow twice as fast as the 6% US market growth, which is forecast to grow again this year.

In the UK, A-Plant performed solidly, with rental-only revenue up 11% in markets which the company called "competitive".

On the outlook, Ashtead said there had so far been a "good seasonal upward trend in fleet on rent throughout the Spring which has continued into the new financial year".

"Our end markets remain strong, the structural drivers are still in place and we have a strong balance sheet which allows us to execute our plans responsibly

[bracke] 14/6/2016 12:27

It's fair but no where near Carling.

Didn't even get to 1000, that's disappointing.

[clarky5150] 14/6/2016 09:59

aye.
Morning Rescuer.

[rescuer] 14/6/2016 09:56

brill results again AHT,

Clarky - mkts will be volatile until after the EU vote.

hope all on here are well.

[mjcferguson] 14/6/2016 09:37

unbelieveable!

[clarky5150] 14/6/2016 09:35

red on the day. Never ceases to amaze me!

[clarky5150] 14/6/2016 09:17

You and a few others by the looks. Im hoping for 1000 this week if the ftse behaves itself.

[2flatpack] 14/6/2016 08:51

Took a profit ,sold 80% of my holdings .
I will sit on my hands until the vote is out of the way.
If we do exit AHT must be one of the best shares to hold.
I am hoping we don't exit and can pick up some bargains on result day .
Cheers

[discodave4] 14/6/2016 08:00

Excellent results, beat forecasts, either £10 or £9 today!, hope it's the former.DD

[clarky5150] 14/6/2016 07:24

Let's hope the ftse doesn't nosedive to take the shine off.

[clarky5150] 14/6/2016 07:21

Lol.
I think Geoff must have a new p.a as his language to me is the strongest used for a while. No play on potential issues due to things out of the companies control etc.
I agree tho dcarn, the market has acted bizarrely to great results by hat in the past. The increase divi and share buy back intimation do add an extra cherry or two on top of the cake tho which I think will give us a strong showing this Summer.

[james97] 14/6/2016 07:21

I expected good results but this is even better. The share price will be well up.

[dcarn] 14/6/2016 07:06

Excellent. Profits surge, divi jumps and a share buyback to boot.
It'll be a down day today.

[bracke] 13/6/2016 17:07

That was an interesting day.

The markets are dropping but AHT holds up. Look at the volume. It suggests that a fair amount of effort went in to keep the share price from dropping.

[2flatpack] 13/6/2016 15:04

Disclosed shorts down.
Short Interest Tracker.
.
.
Fund manager % short Change Date changed/created
AQR Capital Management, LLC 0.61% ↑ 0.11% 2016-05-12
Blue Ridge Capital, L.L.C 1.23% ↑ 0.09% 2016-02-10
CPMG, Inc 1.54% ↑ 0.12% 2016-05-18
Eminence Capital, LP 0.73% ↑ 0.11% 2016-04-22
Total 4.11%
.
.
I know the result will be good, it's just the reaction to them I am unsure of.
Good luck to all holders.
Cheers

[bracke] 13/6/2016 10:25

It didn't quite make 930 but fairly close.

Let's see how it now deals with 960. Perhaps hold it there ready for the soar up tomorrow?

[fenners66] 13/6/2016 09:11

Sudden recovery has someone got wind of results?

[bracke] 12/6/2016 17:52

ian

Your view is understandable.

One rarely comes across a poor banker.

Banks are still too big to be allowed to fail.

[ianwwwhite] 10/6/2016 15:49

bracke

Cynical, moi?

You are right, I really must try harder to appreciate the efforts of our guiding lights in the financial markets - however I'm reading 'The Big Short' at the moment and it comes as a shock to find that many of those experts could be so wrong, cause such a catastrophe, and walk away largely unscathed to start all over again.

Cynical, mais oui!

[bracke] 10/6/2016 10:13

Good day ian

"some analysts are trying to influence the market...."
=======================================================

WHAT!! Surely not. What possible reason could they have to do that?

You are far too cynical. It's just that they have slightly differing views, after all what's 100% variance, it's only money.

Yesterday I was viewing the chart and thought 'Hmmmm is the target 960 or even 930'. This would then leave room for a miraculous rise back to 1000 or more on results day.......OH NO!! I've got a cynicism bug!!

[ianwwwhite] 09/6/2016 20:26

bracke

I recognise the 'stopped clock' scenario, but what mystifies me is that given the AHT information in the public domain creates a level playing field, how do the analysts come up with such widely varying outlooks?

It almost seems sometime that rather than predict the market, some analysts are trying to influence the market....