Ashtead Group remains positive about the future

The Ashtead Group has reported a turnover for the six months to 31 October 2003 of £269.4m - down from £292.2m for the same period a year ago.
According to George Burnett, group chief executive, cost savings of £15m were not enough to compensate the company's A-Plant business for a corresponding drop in turnover.
A-Plant's turnover dropped from £95.1m to £83.5m, with operating profit down from £9.7m to £5.6m. "We've been through a painful process, but our restructuring is now complete and we are optimistic for the future," said Burnett.
The non-core Big Air and Mast Climbing businesses were sold for £5m, while the Irish rental businesses sold recently realised £12.1m. The company said no more disposals are planned.
Sunbelt Rentals, the com-pany's US division, posted better than expected results, although turnover was still lower at £179.1m. "We are encouraged by our US performance as it accounts for 70% of our business. The weakness of the dollar has obviously affected our results," Burnett said.