Sunbelt Rentals Posts Strong Fiscal Q3 and Nine-Month Results

In a strong fiscal third quarter performance Sunbelt Rentals posted $680 million in revenue, compared to $551 million for the same period last year, a 23-percent increase. Including A-Plant, the U.K. rental company also owned by parent company Ashtead plc, the company posted £513 million (about U.S. $788.6 million) compared to £400 million a year ago, a 28-percent year-over-year hike. The fiscal third quarter ended Jan. 31.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, Sunbelt posted $2.047 billion in revenue, compared to $1.658 billion a year ago, a 23.5-percent jump. EBITDA for the nine-month period was $983.3 million, compared to $755.2 million in the year-ago period, a 30.2-percent leap.

For the last 12 months, Sunbelt posted $2.578 million in revenue, compared to $2.110 for the previous year, a 22-percent increase.

“It is pleasing to report another strong quarter enabling the Group to deliver record underlying pre-tax profits of £379 million, up 33 percent on the prior year,” said Ashtead chief executive Geoff Drabble. “Strong contributions came from both Sunbelt and A-Plant, with rental revenue growth of 25 percent and 18 percent respectively. We continue to execute on our strategy, focused on organic growth supplemented by bolt-on acquisitions. We invested £783 million in capital expenditure and £162 million on bolt-on acquisitions in the period and expect full-year capital expenditure to be at the top of, or slightly above, our previously announced range of £925 million to £975 million.

“Even with these significant levels of investment, we continue to grow responsibly, generating strong returns and maintaining leverage within our stated objectives. We now anticipate a full year result ahead of our previous expectations and the board looks forward to the medium term with continued confidence.”

Sunbelt Rentals is based in Fort Mill, S.C., and is No. 2 on the RER 100. Ashtead plc is headquartered in London.