Ashtead makes hay as A-Plant restructuring begins to pay off

A-Plant’s parent company Ashtead has reported record third-quarter revenue and profit as well as a record nine-month performance.

Income in the three months to 31 January rose 32% to £162.5m (£123.4m, for the 2005 period) and pre-tax profit soared from £100,000 to £24.2m. The nine-month performance was equally buoyant. Revenue increased 20% to £476.3m and profit before tax and exceptional items rose nearly three-fold to £53m.

Most of these improvements have been driven by the company’s US arm Sunbelt. In the UK, A-Plant saw nine-month revenue only slightly higher than last year (£118.9m compared with £117.6m), while operating profit rose 14.7% to £10m.

However, third-quarter income rose 6.1% compared with last year, generating an operating profit of £1.1m, up from £100,000.

“The restructuring of A-Plant’s sales force in the first half contributed to a strong third-quarter performance,” said chief executive George Burnett.