Ashtead Group PLC Q3 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Rajesh Kumar - HSBC, Research Division - Analyst : Just in terms of the secondhand market, you gave us some decent color that prices are reasonably stable. If you look ahead, obviously, just thinking about the holding period of the industry, the supply is likely to rise over the next couple of years. Is there a risk of pressure developing from a supply of secondhand kit in the market? And the second one is on the -- you just briefly touched on the electric versus hydrogen opportunity. Can you flesh out how big that could be in terms of the entire part of your asset base? And just finally, when you look at the rate of inflation you're getting, you seem very confident about the drop-through margins. I appreciate that. Is that because of the duration mix of your rental? So because you've got more specialty, so you're getting longer duration, so you've got a bit more clarity on what sort of rates you might be getting to offset some of the wage pressure? Or is it just -- the markets are so strong that you can pass through such inflation?

Question: Rajesh Kumar - HSBC, Research Division - Analyst : That was quite comprehensive. Really appreciate that. Just if I may, on a housekeeping point, you very helpfully used to provide statistics on the margin differential between the greenfield bolt-ons and the branch mix. Are we okay to use the historic statistics at the current level? Or have those numbers changed meaningfully in terms of where the margins are by vintage of the branch?

Question: Rajesh Kumar - HSBC, Research Division - Analyst : Understood. So at the full year, we'll have the starting point for '21 so that if we are doing our projections based on that, it would be slightly more sensible? Or is that something you discontinued? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 02, 2021 / 10:00AM, AHT.L - Q3 2021 Ashtead Group PLC Earnings Call