Ashtead is one of those businesses that is listed over here but makes an awful lot of money over there. So much so, in fact, that perhaps we should pronounce its name with an American accent — 88 per cent of revenues in the first quarter came from renting out its industrial kit in North America, where it owns Sunbelt Rentals.
It makes no difference to investors, of course, whether a company earns its living in Bognor or Beijing. What matters is whether it works and whether the money keeps coming in. Ashtead has been a prolific growth stock. The question is: can it continue?
Ashtead was founded in 1947, in the Surrey town of the same name, as a supplier of diggers, cement mixers