Ashtead Group, a London-listed construction equipment rental company, has released a photo showcasing the Sunbelt Rentals hire equipment. The company cited several reasons for its downbeat outlook, including a quieter hurricane season and fewer naturally occurring events such as wildfires. Ashtead competes with United Rentals in the U.S. and serves construction, emergency response, and entertainment markets in the U.S., UK, and Canada.
The Hollywood actors’ and writer’s strikes affected Ashtead’s film and television business in Canada and had some impact on the rest of the Canadian, U.S., and UK businesses that rent into that space. Despite this setback, Ashtead expects its annual profit to come in below market expectations due to lower emergency response activity and a more than $2 billion depreciation charge for the year.
Ashtead has lowered its annual group and U.S. rental revenue growth forecast and said net interest costs would amount to about $540 million for the year.