Investor event and update on current trading

RNS Number : 8507V

Ashtead Group PLC

21 April 2016

Ashtead Group plc

21 April 2016

Investor event and update on current trading

Ashtead Group plc is holding a short seminar for analysts and investors in London this afternoon.

The seminar will introduce some additional information and disclosure that the Group is planning to provide with the year end results which will be announced on 14 June. The seminar will include the following update on current trading:

The Group has continued to perform well in the fourth quarter of the current financial year and we expect full year results to be towards the top of the range of current analyst expectations.

Today's seminar will include a discussion of the relative performance of and trends within its General Tool and Specialty businesses. The Group's Specialty businesses provide an opportunity for long term structural growth and more consistent returns on a typically less cyclical basis, with a lower capital requirement.

For some time the Group's growth objective has been to achieve 15% market share in the US, almost double the current position. Sunbelt's market share in recent years has increased through a combination of same-store growth, greenfield store openings and bolt-on acquisitions and this plan will continue over the medium term. Today almost one third of our stores have been open for under three years and this has unsurprisingly impacted some of the metrics of the business. The maturing of these stores will enhance future overall margin improvement and further detail will be provided today.

Finally the seminar will highlight Sunbelt's business with managed accounts. Our strategy remains unchanged, focused on a wide range of products and customers, with small to mid-sized contractors at its core. Since 2011 we have taken significant market share in the small to mid-sized contractor market however we have also benefitted from a unique opportunity to grow our larger managed accounts. The overall impact on profitability and returns of these changes is positive but it does affect individual metrics which will again be covered in today's presentation.

Geoff Drabble, Chief Executive of Ashtead, commented: "As the Group has grown it has become larger and more diversified, and this will deliver higher returns and greater stability across the cycle. It does however lead to varying metrics relative to historical performance. It is important that these trends are better understood and to assist we have now added further granularity to our presentations."

Brendan Horgan, CEO of Sunbelt, and Sat Dhaiwal, CEO of A-Plant, will be present at the event today to answer questions.

The presentation slides will be available from 4pm this afternoon on the Group's website at www.ashtead-group.com under "Results and presentations" in the Investor Centre.

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