UK’s Ashtead Reveals Lower Profit Due to $2bn Charge and Struggling US Business

Ashtead Group recently released a photograph showcasing an example of Sunbelt’s rental equipment. The London-listed company has cited various reasons for its unfavorable outlook, including a quieter hurricane season and fewer natural events such as wildfires. Ashtead, which competes with United Rentals in the US, serves the construction, emergency response and entertainment markets in the US, UK and Canada, renting equipment from excavators to construction tools.

The impact of the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes affected the film and television business in Canada and had some impact on the rest of the Canadian, American and British businesses that rent space. Ashtead operates as Sunbelt Rentals in its biggest market, the US, expects its annual profit to come in below market expectations due to lower emergency response activity and more than $2 billion in depreciation for the year. The company also lowered its annual growth forecast for U.S. rental income and said net interest expense would be about $540 million for the year.