Equipment rental company Ashtead has no immediate plan for US listing

By Yamini Kalia and Echha Jain

(Reuters) -British equipment rental company Ashtead Group has no immediate plans to move its listing to the United States, it said on Tuesday, when it also forecast slower revenue growth for fiscal 2025, sending its shares to a nearly three-month low.

Earlier this month, The Telegraph newspaper reported Ashtead was in early stages of considering whether to switch its listing to New York from London, as an increasing number of UK companies favour U.S. markets, where valuations can be higher.

CEO Brendan Horgan told an analysts' call the board periodically discussed "listing residency". He said investors would be informed of any change, but none was planned for now.

Ashtead, which serves construction, emergency response and entertainment markets in Britain, Canada and the United States expects group rental revenue to rise between 5% and 8% in the financial year ending April 2025 after a 10% jump in 2024.

The company expects US rental revenue to rise between 4% to 7% in 2025, dragged down by an additional provision after a customer filed for bankruptcy protection in May due to a contract dispute.

In November, Ashtead flagged a more-than-$2 billion depreciation charge for the year, and cited lower levels of emergency response activity in the United States, its biggest market, and the lingering impact of the Hollywood strikes.

Ashtead shares fell by as much as 5% to 5,228 pence in morning trade.

J.P. Morgan cut its pre-tax profit guidance for 2025/26 by 3% to a consensus of $3.5 billion on weak US rental revenue forecasts.

Analysts at Hargreaves said longer term, the U.S. rental market looked fragmented, but said there was "a growing appreciation from end-users as to the benefits of rental over ownership".

Ashtead posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of $2.23 billion for the year ended April 30, compared with $2.27 billion a year ago.

(Reporting by Echha Jain and Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Barbara Lewis)