
A-Plant’s profits fall 11%
Hire company A-Plant has suffered a dip in profits in the past year on marginal growth in revenues. For the year ended 30th April 2019, A-Plant made an operating profit of £62.3m, down 11% on the previous year’s £70.2m. Revenue was up 0.7% to £475.1m (2018: £471.7m). Its operating margin therefore declined from 14.9% to 13.1%. This was attributed to “the higher depreciation charge of a larger average fleet”. A-Plant generated rental-only revenue of £357m, up 4% on the prior year (2018: £344m). This was driven by increased fleet on rent with a 1% improvement in yield, mainly due to product mix. A-Plant’s parent company, Ashtead – although British – does most of its business in North America, through the much larger and more profitable Sunbelt equipment rental operations.
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