LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group plc (AHT.L) reported Tuesday that its third-quarter profit before taxation dropped 4 percent to 210 million pounds from 225 million pounds last year.
Earnings per share dropped to 35.7 pence from 37.0 pence a year ago.
Underlying profit before taxation was 225 million pounds, compared to 257 million pounds a year earlier. Underlying earnings per share were 38.2 pence, compared to 42.3 pence last year.
Underlying EBITDA dropped 5 percent to 539 million pounds from 584 million pounds in the prior year.
Revenue edged down 1 percent to 1.21 billion pounds from prior year's 1.25 billion pounds. Rental revenue dropped 1 percent from last year to 1.08 billion pounds.
Looking ahead, Ashtead's Chief Executive Brendan Horgan said, 'With our businesses performing well, we now expect full year results ahead of our previous expectations.'
Group Rental revenue for the year is now expected to be down around 4 percent, compared to previous outlook of a decline of 3 percent to 7 percent, mainly reflecting weak U.S. revenues.
The company expects capital expenditure for the full year to be at the upper end of previous guidance at about 700 million pounds.
Looking forward to 2022, the company expects to return to growth and anticipate gross capital expenditure of 1.3 billion pounds to 1.5 billion pounds, which should enable mid-single digit revenue growth in the US.
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