Ashtead has confirmed plans to switch its primary listing to the United States, where it conducts most of its business, to gain access to ‘deeper’ capital markets.
The announcement was made alongside the release of an interim statement revealing a 4% drop in profit before tax in the first half due to slower rental growth. Ashtead reduced its profit guidance for the year as a result.
The combination of slower rental growth, lower profit guidance, and plans to shift their primary listing to the US resulted in a 10% drop in Ashtead shares on Tuesday.
“Ashtead has warned on profit this morning citing difficulty in its primary market of North America. The construction market has seen weakness driven by the higher interest rate environment lasting longer. This has in turn hurt used equipment sales and higher depreciation costs have hit Ashtead’s numbers,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at investment platform eToro
“Most notably in the update is the long rumoured intention to switch to a US listing. The firm does almost all of their business in North America, they report in dollars and the vast majority of their staff are in the region. Despite this making sense on many levels, it is still a huge blow for the UK to see the 25th largest firm in the benchmark FTSE100 index leaving. Amid London’s campaign to be attractive to upcoming IPOs, it’s far from the best time to see one of their stalwarts leave for pastures new.”
The decision comes as the company acknowledges its transformation into a predominantly US-focused business. With its executive management team and operational headquarters already based in the United States, along with the majority of its workforce, the company believes this change will better align with its operational reality. As part of this transition, the company will rebrand as Sunbelt Rentals.
The overarching reason behind the switch is the attraction of US capital markets. Ashtead said they expect the move to give the company greater access to US investors and deeper capital markets, potentially increasing the liquidity of its shares. Additionally, the relocation of its primary listing could position the company for inclusion in major US stock indices.
Losing Ashtead will be a significant blow to London, given the company’s stellar performance over the years, driven by consistently growing profits.