Ashtead, the FTSE 100 industrial rentals firm, backed London as the main trading venue for its shares today as it reported a surge in earnings of $1.1 billion (£0.9 billion), mainly made in the US.
The 20% rise in profit came from revenue of $2.4 billion, also up by a fifth, with 90% of Ashtead’s business now coming from across the Atlantic, where it trades as Sunbelt Rentals.
Brendan Horgan, its CEO, told The Standard, that “we remain happy where we are” in terms of the main home for its shares. “Our listing domicile in London has in no way, shape or form prevented us from executing our strategy in the last several years.”
An American himself, Horgan said the London stock market offered the company “a significantly long runway for growth.” The current market value of Ashtead’s stock is around £23 billion.
London has faced renewed competition as a trading venue from New York amid talk that companies there can attract higher valuations, in part due to a deeper pool of capital. Regulators are streamlining rules after a plunge in new listings since 2008.
The City’s reputation took a hit when the chip designer Arm Holdings, one of its big success stories, chose to re-list its shares in the US when returning to life as an independent company.
London is losing CRH, the world’s biggest building products firm, which in March announced plans to move its shares to the US, where it too does most of its business.
Ashtead’s high-level backing today will help assuage the worst of the fears about London’s future.
