ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007
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ashtead group plc
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3637 king street
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ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007
t 44 0 20 7726 9700
as6554ashteadcoversv1qxd  12707  1153 am  page 1 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007
at ashtead we enable individuals and businesses
to do more
we are a global leader in the provision of hire
equipment from hand held powered tools 
to aerial platforms we provide solutions and 
systems that support our customers
but above all it is our people that really make 
the difference
1 highlights
2 our business
3 our year in review
4 chairman’s statement
6 chief executive’s statement
14 business and ﬁnancial review
32 board of directors
34 directors’ report
36 corporate governance report
40 directors’ remuneration report
49 independent auditors’ report
50 consolidated income statement
51 consolidated statement of
recognised income and expense
51 consolidated movements in
equity shareholders’ funds
52 consolidated balance sheet
53 consolidated cash ﬂow
statement
54 notes to the consolidated
ﬁnancial statements
86 ten year history
87 advisers
88 future dates
designed and produced by cgi london part of conran design group limited
printed in the uk by mpgimpressions
this report is printed utilising vegetable based inks on regency satin paper which is produced with virgin ecf
ﬁbre from sustainable forests independently certiﬁed according to the rules of the forest stewardship council
as6554ashteadcoversv1qxd  12707  1153 am  page 2 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 highlights 1
highlights
revenue £m
£896 1m
up 48

03
5395
04
500 3
05
523  7
06
6380
07
896 1
underlying operating profit £m
£1 505m
up 45

03
391
04
442
05
671
06
1111
07
1505
underlying profit before taxation £m
£814m
up 29

03
 18 04
76
05
224
06
67 5
07
81  4
03
422
04
331
05
322
06
817
07
365
profitloss before taxation £m
£ 365m
continued growth in revenue and proﬁt in all divisions
with full year underlying operating proﬁt of £1505m
up 45 at constant exchange rates
on a pro forma basis sunbelt’s underlying full year
operating proﬁt grew by 43 to 2723m reﬂecting the
progress made to date on the nationsrent integration
on the same pro forma basis aplant delivered
underlying operating proﬁt growth of 40 to £207m
reﬂecting its strong 11 organic improvement in pro
forma revenues
underlying basic earnings per share declined 3 at
constant exchange rates to 103p reﬂecting the expected
ﬁrst year dilution from the nationsrent acquisition
the loss before tax for the year of £365m 2006 proﬁt
of £817m is after charging exceptional costs fair value
remeasurements and intangible amortisation amounting
to £1179m 2006 £142m credit no further
exceptional costs relating to the nationsrent acquisition
are expected
final dividend of 11p per share proposed making 165p
for the year 2006 15p
 at constant exchange rates
the ﬁgures for 2005 2006 and 2007 are reported in accordance with ifrs figures for 2003 and 2004 are reported under uk gaap and have not been restated in accordance with ifrs
underlying proﬁt is stated before exceptional items amortisation of acquired intangibles and noncash fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives in longterm debt
the deﬁnition of exceptional items is set out in note 1 to the attached ﬁnancial statements
reference to pro forma basis throughout this annual report and accounts includes the nationsrent and lux trafﬁc acquisitions throughout both periods for this purpose the preacquisition results of
nationsrent have been derived from its reported performance under us gaap adjusted to exclude the large proﬁts on disposal of rental equipment it reported following the application of us “fresh start”
accounting principles and to include an estimated depreciation charge under ashtead’s depreciation policies
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1153 am  page 1 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 our business 2
ashtead group provides solutions for customers who need a quick efﬁcient and
costeffective servicewe provide equipment that lifts powers generates moves
digs supports scrubs pumps directs ventilates – whatever the job needswe rent
equipment on ﬂexible terms so that our customers can focus on what they do best
rather than maintaining and servicing equipment they may use only periodically
we make sure the equipment is there when it needs to be and is ready to work
immediately and efﬁciently our proﬁt centres are located where they are most
required and we guarantee our servicewhether customers need a small hand 
held tool or power generation for a 30 ﬂoor building our staff are there able 
and willing to help our customers ensure the job gets done
our business
sunbelt
the second largest
equipment rental business 
in the us market sunbelt
continues to increase its
market share rapidly sunbelt
has 445 locations operating
in 35 states
7524
us
1539m
272m
13
description
employees
countries of operation
revenues

profits

return on investment

aplant
the third largest equipment
rental company with 201
locations across britain
operating in a mature
stable market
2424
uk
£199m
£21m
9
ashtead technology
renting specialised electronic
equipment to the offshore 
oil and gas sectors and the
environmental monitoring
and testing industry from 
13 locations in the uk the
us canada and singapore
115
us uk canada singapore
£22m
£6m
35
 revenue and proﬁts include nationsrent
and lux from the beginning of the
ﬁnancial year and not from their
respective dates of acquisition
 return on investment is calculated as
operating proﬁt divided by net tangible
assets employed including goodwill and
other intangible assets but excluding debt
and deferred tax
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1153 am  page 2 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 our year in review 3
our year in review
nationsrent
integration
milestones
achieved 
on or ahead 
of schedule
by october regional and
district management teams
had been combined and
former nationsrent store
staff had migrated to
sunbelt’s monthly paid proﬁt
share programme the
combination of the two
point of sale and back ofﬁce
computer systems was
achieved ahead of schedule
at the beginning of
november and the former
nationsrent head ofﬁce was
closed on schedule in early
december integration cost
savings were running at an
annual rate of approximately
48m in the fourth quarter
geoff drabble
joins as new
chief executive
geoff drabble joined ashtead
group as chief executive
designate in october and
succeeded george burnett 
as chief executive in january
geoff has been a non
executive director of ashtead
since april 2005 and joined
ashtead fulltime from the
laird group plc where he
had been responsible for its
building products division
chris cole
appointed 
as chairman
in march christopher cole
who had been serving as
interim nonexecutive
chairman of the group 
since 27 october 2006
was appointed permanently
as chairman of the group
us footprint extended through
acquisition of nationsrent
in august we completed the 1bn acquisition of nationsrent in
the us marking a step change in the size and scope of the group
and making us the second largest equipment rental company in
the us and globally the enlarged sunbelt business now has 445
locations and over 2bn in rental ﬂeet
acquisition of lux traffic controls
in october we acquired the uk’s largest provider of rental trafﬁc
systems by acquiring lux trafﬁc controls limited for £155m
over 40 lux locations were immediately amalgamated into the
aplant network and when integrated with aplant’s existing
dedicated trafﬁc locations formed the largest dedicated trafﬁc
equipment provider in the uk
ashtead technology continues 
to expand
good market conditions have contributed to strong growth 
at ashtead technology which opened its thirteenth store 
in philadelphia in april
aplant positioned for 
yet further improvement
in april aplant announced investment in an improved proﬁt
centre infrastructure better suited to its customers’ needs
the focus will be on larger locations offering a broad range of
plant and tools supplemented by our speciality proﬁt centres
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1153 am  page 3 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chairman’s statement 4
the board is recommending a 10 increase in the ﬁnal dividend to 11p
per share making 165p for the year up 10 on last year’s total of 15p 
per share if approved at the forthcoming annual general meeting the ﬁnal
dividend will be paid on 28 september to shareholders on the register on
7 september 2007
i am very pleased to be leading the board at this exciting time for the
group but that sentiment is also tinged with sadness as it comes as a
result of the untimely death in october of cob stenham our previous
chairman i knew cob well having worked alongside him as senior
independent nonexecutive director since late 2003 cob provided
invaluable advice over a difﬁcult period in the company’s history and 
will be much missed for his incisiveness and understanding of the issues 
the company faced
last year also saw the retirement of george burnett who cofounded
ashtead in 1984 when he and a fellow investor purchased what was then 
a ﬁve branch business trading in the southeast of england with revenues 
of £1m george became group chief executive in february 2000 and led
the group successfully through several difﬁcult years back to the stability
and proﬁt that we have enjoyed recently on behalf of the board and the
company’s shareholders i would like to thank george for his contribution
over more than two decades and wish him well in his retirement
the board and i are delighted to welcome geoff drabble as the new chief
executive of the company geoff is well known to ashtead as he has been 
a nonexecutive director since 2005 he joined us full time in an executive
role at the beginning of october 2006 from the laird group plc where 
he was head of laird’s building products division and an executive director
geoff was the preferred candidate of the nomination committee after 
an extensive external and internal search he has experience of managing
chairman’s statement
it has been year of change and strategic growth for ashteadwe achieved
good progress in our underlying pretax proﬁts which were £814m up
206 from last year and supported by a step change in the size of the
group with the acquisition of nationsrent in the us all our businesses
performed well and we continued to build on the progress demonstrated
over the last two years the board has worked hard in recent years to
strengthen the ﬁnancial position of the company
chris cole
chairman
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1153 am  page 4 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chairman’s statement 5
businesses in the us as well as in the uk and we are already seeing the
beneﬁts of his operational expertise
the year saw some other changes in the composition of the board firstly
philip lovegrove retired from the board having like george been a director
since 1984 the board would like to thank him for his valuable contribution
and advice over many years and wishes him well in his retirement
following my appointment as chairman hugh etheridge who has been 
a director since 2004 and who is chief financial ofﬁcer of the waste 
and resources action programme has been appointed as our senior
independent nonexecutive director in addition i would like to welcome
michael burrow who was appointed in march and bruce edwards who 
was appointed in june as new nonexecutive directors who were selected
carefully for their speciﬁc areas of expertise and experience michael was
formerly managing director of the investment banking group of lehman
brothers europe limited and brings a signiﬁcant understanding of the
ﬁnancial markets in which we operate whilst bruce is responsible currently
for deutsche post’s contract logistics functions having previously been a
director of exel plc until it was acquired by deutsche post
following these appointments the board is now in compliance with all the
recommendations of the combined code regarding board composition and
importantly wellbalanced to support the group’s strategic performance
objectives
the major event for ashtead in the last year was the acquisition in august
2006 of nationsrent and we are delighted to have found a business whose
store network has a complementary ﬁt with our existing us operations
the nationsrent locations have already been integrated fully and branded
into the sunbelt network and our ongoing focus is to drive up utilisation
rates at the acquired proﬁt centres and thus also in the combined business
the acquisition has made ashtead the second largest equipment rental
company in the united states and globally enabling us to beneﬁt from the
strong us market and the progressive move underway in that market from
ownership to rental
a further important development of the group in the year was the
acquisition of lux trafﬁc controls in the uk its integration with aplant’s
existing trafﬁc operations has provided the opportunity for higher 
valueadded earnings and helped make us the market leader in trafﬁc
management in the uk ashtead technology also continued to make
excellent progress throughout the year and again presents excellent results
concurrently with the nationsrent acquisition the group renewed and
extended its debt facilities providing both the capacity required to conclude
the acquisition and signiﬁcant ﬂexibility for the future our facilities a total
of 255bn £13bn are committed for the long term with a weighted
average remaining life of 625 years at 30 april 2007 and are essentially
nonamortising they are also structured in a form appropriate to our
business being reliant principally on our asset cover for security
as our business expands acting responsibly and fulﬁlling our obligations as
a good corporate citizen become ever more importantwe are committed
to meeting our social ethical and environmental commitments to ensuring
the safety of both our employees and our customers limiting the impact
we make on the environment and giving back to the communities in which
we do businesswe expect to expand our reporting of these important
areas in the coming year
the commitment and calibre of our people make the difference in a
competitive market and i thank them for their hard work and for their
enthusiasm to make ashtead the preferred supplier in all our markets in
addition i welcome our new employees from nationsrent and lux trafﬁc
and thank them for their contribution to the successful integration of their
respective businesses
as we continue to build on the excellent integration and combination 
of the enlarged sunbelt business in the us complemented by continuing
improved performance from aplant and ashtead technology in expected
good markets i am conﬁdent we can see further growth in all the group’s
activities in the future leading to enhanced shareholder value
chris cole
chairman
25 june 2007
revenues
£896m
up 40
underlying pretax proﬁts
£81m
up 21
dividends
165p
up 10
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1153 am  page 5 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 6
a year of transition and growth
i am delighted to be presenting my ﬁrst annual report as the new chief
executive of ashtead following the retirement of george burnett george
made an enormous contribution to ashtead over 22 years and on behalf 
of all ashtead employees i would like to thank him for his unstinting
dedication to the group having joined ashtead as a nonexecutive director
in april 2005 and become chief executive designate in october 2006 i was
fortunate to have the opportunity of working alongside george to ensure
management continuity and a seamless transition
the year also saw a change in chairman following the sad and untimely
death of cob stenham cob will be greatly missed by us all both for his
professional drive and knowledge and the personal ﬂair that he brought 
to the business in chris cole however we have gained a chairman with 
a deep understanding of construction markets as a result of his position 
as chief executive of wsp group plc together with extensive experience 
of ashtead and its management team having been a director since 
january 2002
growth from both organic revenue improvement and acquisition form 
key elements of our strategy and 20067 saw notable activity our group
revenue for the year was £896m up 40 on the £638m reported last year
during the year we enjoyed organic growth in all markets through a
combination of good overall market conditions and market share gains in
addition the group moved forward signiﬁcantly with the acquisition of us
rental company nationsrent in august 2006 for 1bn creating the second
largest rental company both in the us and globally serving principally the
nonresidential construction market october 2006’s £155m acquisition of
lux trafﬁc controls in the uk and its immediate integration with aplant’s
existing trafﬁc management operations makes us the largest provider of
rental trafﬁc systems in the uk
chief executive’s statement
ashtead aims to be a leader in the global equipment rental business
delivering strong returns for its investors through the exploitation of
growth opportunities and by being world class at what we dowe aim to
achieve these objectives by generating strong organic growth combined
with growth through acquisition as well as delivering high levels of
customer satisfaction
geoff drabble
chief executive
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 6 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 7
the nationsrent acquisition
the acquisition of nationsrent provided a unique opportunity to make 
a step change in the size of the group in north america the acquisition
provided scale with very little overlap at proﬁt centre level and allowed 
us to accelerate our clustering principle in key markets such as florida
texas and california in addition it provided us with access to new markets
particularly in the us north east and upper mid west
both businesses used the same computerised point of sale operating
system and the age and composition of their ﬂeet was similar to our 
ownwe were conﬁdent that our business model based around highly
incentivised proﬁt centres operating with a large amount of autonomy
would improve the ﬁnancial return from the nationsrent assets also
signiﬁcant recurring cost savings were available from integrating central 
and regional functions
to date we have achieved all our milestones in terms of the integration and
we enter the new ﬁnancial year with a single business focused on further
organic growth the acquisition was funded by a rights issue which raised
approximately £150m drawings under a new 175bn senior secured credit
facility and 550m of new senior loan notes
delivering profitable growth
underlying operating proﬁt at £1505m was up 355 on the £1111m
reported last year on a pro forma basis operating proﬁt was up 340 to
£1612m reﬂecting the 38 increase in the number of shares outstanding
following august’s rights issue we achieved underlying earnings per share 
of 103p 2006 113p
all three divisions sunbelt aplant and ashtead technology saw good
organic growth in both revenue and underlying operating proﬁtwhilst
there are differences in the geographies and markets they serve the rental
business model is the same
there were signiﬁcant exceptional costs fair value remeasurements 
and intangible amortisation totalling £1179m 2006 credit of £142m
the majority of these costs were associated with the funding of the
nationsrent transaction and realising the synergy beneﬁts available from
the acquisition as all of the structural integration activity is now complete
we do not expect any further exceptional costs associated with this
transaction in 20078
net borrowings at the yearend were £9159m 2006 £4936mwe have
stated our policy of managing our ﬁnancial structure to sustain a net debt
to ebitda ratio in the range of 2 to 3 times in most circumstances as a
result of the acquisition we reached temporarily the upper end of this
range by yearend we were at 27 times and anticipate reaching the
midpoint of the range based on normal operational activity in 20078
maintaining the momentum of the group
we expect to continue to develop the group through a combination of
organic growth and acquisition while ensuring we have both the ﬁnancial
and managerial resource to execute and integrate an acquisition successfully
realising the organic growth potential from the acquired nationsrent
assets will remain a key area of focus in 2008 utilising the reconﬁgured
ﬂeet we intend to access a broader customer base than just the pure 
nonresidential contractor which will allow us to both develop new higher
return markets and provide an important breadth of revenue generation
sunbelt’s underlying pro forma
operating proﬁt
272m
up 43
aplant’s underlying pro forma
operating proﬁt
£21m
up 40
ashtead t echnology’s 
operating proﬁt
£6m
up 57 at constant
exchange rates
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 7 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 8
aplant is positioned for yet further improvement its existing momentum
will be supported by further investment in ﬂeet and an improved proﬁt
centre infrastructure in april we began to implement a new investment
programme for aplant this will involve the restructuring of its proﬁt centre
infrastructure over the coming year to create fewer larger sites with higher
levels of activity these larger pools of equipment and staff will improve
operational efﬁciency and enable aplant to meet the needs of its
customers better an exceptional charge of £62m was recorded in the
fourth quarter in respect of principally vacant premises costs at the proﬁt
centres which will be closed as a result of the new investment plan
ashtead technology will continue to develop both its onshore and offshore
markets which remain strong in offshore as well as the traditionally strong
markets in the north sea and the gulf of mexicowest africa and asia are
becoming increasingly important the need for oil and gas exploration to
access deeper waters together with the development of new ﬁelds will
continue to provide opportunities for future growththe onshore markets in
both environmental monitoring and nondestructive testing are developing
well additionally the aging of production assets and increasing health and
safety requirements in the offshore oil industry will also drive higher levels
of maintenance from which we should beneﬁt finally there is a signiﬁcant
opportunity to leverage the onshore business through sunbelt’s locations
and industrial customers
acquisitions have been and will continue to form a key part of our
strategy acquisitions are made to expand both our geographic footprint
and the range of products which we offerwe bring value to our
acquisitions by introducing our successful business model and providing 
the beneﬁt of scalewhen appropriate we will continue to look for 
valueenhancing bolton acquisitions to support our clusters in existing
geographieswe will look also to develop our specialist businesses following
the successful acquisition of lux trafﬁc controls the leading player in the
niche uk trafﬁc market our specialist businesses generate higher added
value as our customer base looks to outsource their planning and technical
requirements as well as renting equipment
we are a service business and we differentiate ourselves by the strength of
our service offering central to our service offering are our people and our
systemswe now have a 10000 strong ashtead team the nature of our
business requires skilled entrepreneurial individuals working within a highly
devolved structurewe achieve this through a dedication to training and 
an industry leading reward and recognition scheme the industry generally
suffers from high staff turnover particularly within certain job categories
and within the ﬁrst year of employmentwe have made good progress in
improving our staff retention in recent years with a lower level of leavers as
shown in the chart opposite this will remain a key performance indicator
going forward
chief executive’s statement
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 8 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 9
we place signiﬁcant importance on the use of systems to improve our
efﬁciency for example each of our divisions operates integrated on line
point of sale systems which provide signiﬁcant advantages to our
employees and customers due to the visibility these single companywide
systems provide our extranets allow key aspects of the customer
relationship to be managed electronically in addition in the uk our on line
telematics and tracking system enables qualifying customers to see exactly
where major items of equipment are at any time including if they have
been stolen already there have been many instances where these tracking
devices have facilitated swift recovery in the event of theft saving our
customers the cost of providing us with a replacement for the lost item
information technology will play an even greater role in rental in the future
driven by the need to minimise transportation costs and the need for
enhanced asset visibility major projects such as the 2012 olympics will
accelerate this change ashtead is at the forefront of these changes and 
we will continue to use our technology as a differentiator
employees
ashtead is a leader in its industry because of its people and i would like to
thank all our employees for their hard work and dedication our employees
are often called upon to help our customers and their management teams
through difﬁcult situations whether that be providing crucial equipment at
short notice or getting a facility up and running again after a major incident
such as water damagethe pride and passion demonstrated by our employees
makes our customers know they can depend on us to get things moving
outlook
across the group the business has developed well in the past year and the
nationsrent acquisition provides continuing opportunity from integration
beneﬁts and positions us well for further growth the markets for all three
divisions remain strong and the drive to rental due to both the ﬁnancial
and operational beneﬁts of outsourcing will continue particularly in north
america given the success of the nationsrent integration to date we are
well positioned to achieve further progress in the coming year ashtead 
will remain focused on delivery of our objective of creating and growing
shareholder value
geoff drabble
chief executive
25 june 2007
05
410
05
331
06
323
306
06 07 07
292
259
employee turnover 
aplant
sunbelt ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 10
getting things going
again after a disaster
after a hurricane a ﬁre a ﬂood or any kind of disaster we can respond immediately and provide the
equipment and expertise required to clean up provide power and get the disaster recovery moving
ahead at full steamwhen a four storey apartment building in boston caught ﬁre sunbelt received a
friday night call for help on saturday morning sunbelt delivered critical equipment the contractors
needed to begin the recovery process from the damage caused by the ﬁre smoke and water used to
extinguish the ﬁre and dampen the job site equipment included aerial man lifts dehumidiﬁers and
generators to supply the power required for lighting ventilation and interior remediation and
restoration equipment one call was all it took to initiate the entire effort
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 10 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 11
facilitating major events
ashtead is often asked to provide the behindthescenes equipment without which many major
events would never happenwe rent a wide variety of equipment used at rock concerts music
festivals sporting events and many other venues in charlotte north carolina sunbelt plays a 
critical role in race week which culminates in nascar’s longest race the cocacola 600with over
150000 fans the cocacola 600 is one of the most popular races in the nextel cup series each
year lowe’s motor speedway relies on sunbelt because they count on its range of equipment and
the unparalleled level of service they receive
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 11 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 12
supporting the
redevelopment of
london’s oldest hospitals
following the award by the uk government of the largest ever public finance initiative contract
rather than maintain and service all the necessary equipment themselves the contractor turned 
to aplant to fulﬁl this role the 10 year project to redevelop st bartholomew’s and royal london
hospitals involves investment of more than £1bn aplant will be on site permanently during the
project allowing equipment needs to be fulﬁlled quickly through one point of contact whether the
equipment is for the main contractor or their subcontractors as well as providing heavy construction
equipment aplant is also supplying the personal protection equipment for workers on the site their
goggles hard hats and gloves to ensure this major project beneﬁts from the full range of our services
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  1251 pm  page 12 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 13
enabling our
customers to
control traffic
our aplant lux trafﬁc division is the uk leader in providing
trafﬁc control solutions on a rental basiswhether our
customer needs a single set of trafﬁc lights or a complex high
speed trafﬁc management system we provide a complete
service from beginning to endwe can be called upon to 
carry out a risk assessment on site prepare scale drawings
and submit the necessary documents to the local authority
for approval prior to installing the necessary equipment
monitoring it throughout the life of the project and
dismantling it at the end safety is a critical component of
trafﬁc management and our customers look to us to help
them ensure everything works smoothly our inhouse training
has proved so effective that we now provide it to outside
organisations including the highways agency major utilities
civil engineering contractors and even police authorities
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1155 am  page 13 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 14
overview
ashtead operates in the us principally under the name sunbelt and in the
uk principally under the name aplant in addition ashtead technology
serves the global oil industry and operates both offshore and onshore
sunbelt is the second largest equipment rental company in the us and
aplant is the third largest equipment rental company in the uk in each
case measured by rental revenue
we provide a wide range of rental equipment from small handheld
machine tools to extensive pump and power systems used in major
disaster situations in addition ashtead technology rents mainly electronic
survey and testing equipment in the uk the us singapore and canada
we are a service business and it is our network people and systems that set
us apart in our markets at group level we are focused on the management
of an asset intensive business with the aim of delivering superior ﬁnancial
returns in years to come we expect to continue to develop our existing
operations and to consider both adding new higher return product types to
our offering and extending the geographical markets in which we operate
we provide solutions in all manner of situations including
•
nonresidential construction markets – providing all types of
construction equipment
•
facilities management – again providing all types of equipment but used
for maintenance and repair rather than new construction
•
disaster relief – providing pumps and power generation equipment in all
types of application ranging from assistance at times of ﬂooding due to
weather eg hurricane katrina to a burst water supply
•
major event management – providing power generation lighting and
other equipment for events such as the super bowl and other sporting
events major music concerts and festivals
•
trafﬁc management – providing portable trafﬁc systems to facilitate
major engineering projects or cleanup after an accident
the group focuses on equipment rental during 20067 approximately
94 of our revenue was derived from equipment rental and rental 
related services with the balance coming from sales of new equipment
parts and associated goods such as equipment accessorieswe believe 
that equipment rental offers the opportunity to earn substantially 
higher returns than those which are earned by equipment dealers 
whose margins are effectively capped by the equipment manufacturer
business and financial review
ian robson
finance director
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1155 am  page 14 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 15
we are now the second largest equipment rental group in the world
our performance on a pro forma basis before exceptional items and
amortisation was as follows
2007 2006
as reported nationsrentlux pro forma pro forma
£m £m £m £m
revenue 8961 1303 10264 9976
ebitda 3103 311 3414 2982
operating proﬁt 1505 107 1612 1203
in the year to 30 april 2007 we had pro forma revenues of £10264m
pro forma ebitda of £3414m and earned a pro forma operating proﬁt 
of £1612m approximately 79 of our pro forma revenue was generated
in the us by sunbelt and approximately 19 was generated in the uk by
aplant ashtead technology accounted for 2 of our pro forma revenue
our pro forma ebitda and operating proﬁt margins were 333 and
157 respectively
our markets
the us 
sunbelt our us construction and industrial equipment rental division trades
exclusively in the united states and operates 445 proﬁt centres grouped
into 51 districts and 11 regions sunbelt operates principally in the fast
growing us nonresidential construction market which according to ﬁgures
published by the us department of commerce grew 13 in the year to
april 2007 following growth of 10 in the year to april 2006
the recent development of the rental market for construction equipment in
the us has been a key driver of demand for our services rental penetration
is assessed as the proportion of manufactured product sold in the us by
equipment manufacturers and dealers to the rental sector who use it to
supply the end user on a generally shortterm ad hoc rental basis the
chart above shows the development in rental penetration between 1990
and 2010
we believe that this increased trend to rental in the us has the potential 
to continue for many years and consequently to support increased demand
for our services this view is based not only on the rental penetration in the
more mature uk market which is estimated at around 80 but also by the
fact that one product type in the us aerial work platforms also exhibits
around 80 penetration aerial work platforms are a more recently
developed product than other types of construction equipment
consequently as demand grew its manufacturers had no established dealer
distribution network but instead saw the rental industry as the best means
to distribute their product
given current market conditions including the impact of increased rental
penetration we expect the rental market to grow by between 5 and 7
in the coming ﬁscal year
following the nationsrent acquisition we are the second largest rental
business in the us based on pro forma rental revenues as shown in the
table below
approx
name number of locations rental revenues market share
bn
united rentals 597 23 7
sunbelt rentals 445 14 4
hertz equipment rental co 242 14 4
rsc 429 14 4
like ourselves united rentals rsc and hertz are publicly listed businesses
beyond the top four the market in which sunbelt operates is characterised
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1990 5
2000
25
2005
2006
2010
forecast
38
40
50
us rental penetration

as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  1233 pm  page 15 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 16
by a large number of small competitors according to global insight and
rental equipment register there is an estimated total of 15000 industry
locations in the us and the largest 10 businesses have a 27 share of an
estimated 328bn market
our ﬂeet mix is broadly similar to our large peers however we differentiate
our business both by emphasising smaller equipment types which we
believe offer the potential for higher returns and in the manner in which 
we incentivise our staff
sunbelt’s ﬂeet age at 30 april 2007 was 32 months on a net book value
basis comprising 38 months for aerial work platforms which have a longer
life and 25 months for the remainder of the ﬂeet the cost of sunbelt’s
ﬂeet by asset category is summarised in the chart above
future market trends
we expect that sunbelt’s development in coming years will be driven by
•
an increase in the size of the market driven by growth in nonresidential
construction and increased outsourcing to the rental sector of their
equipment needs by contractors and 
•
the opportunity which exists for us and the other “big four” providers to
continue to gain market share from the smaller competitors over whom
we enjoy signiﬁcant operational advantages
we anticipate that increased concerns over health and safety issues in the
future will continue to lead contractors to rely on the use of outsourced
equipment this is because use of a specialist provides the contractor with
the ability to rent exactly the right piece of equipment for the task in hand
as well as the assurance that the equipment will be of recent manufacture
and maintained by an experienced specialist workforce
the uk
our uk business trades under the aplant name and rents a similar range
of equipment to sunbelt to a similar proﬁle of general industrial and
construction orientated customers aplant operates 201 proﬁt centres and
serves a more mature market where rental penetration is estimated at
approximately 80 accordingly market commentators expect the market
to be largely stable in future years with growth driven by growth in gdp
together with the need for substantial infrastructure renewal in the uk
sewers water roads as well as increased spending in areas such as nuclear
power station decommissioning and replacement and the 2012 olympics
the forecast market development is shown in the chart above
aplant is the third largest equipment rental business in the uk with its key
peers being shown in the table below
approx
name number of locations revenue market share
£m
speedy hire 361 336 9
hewden stuart 360 258 7
aplant 201 190 5
hss 350 163 4
aplant’s ﬂeet is also young and wellmaintained like that of sunbelt with
an average age at 30 april 2007 on a net book value basis of 29 months
2006 36 months the cost of aplant’s ﬂeet is analysed by asset category
in the chart opposite
business and financial review
continued
1
2
3
4
5
sunbelt fleet by asset category
1 general plant 50
2 aerial work platforms 33
3 tools 8
4 pump and power 5
5 scaffolding 4
03
32
04
33
05
35
37
06 07 08 09
39
41
43
uk plant and tool market 
development £bn
actual
forecast
cagr 3
cagr 5
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1155 am  page 16 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 17
future market trends
we expect that aplant’s development in coming years will be driven by
•
market share gains from the large number of smaller competitors as
health and safety concerns continue to drive the customer base to use
the larger more professional and better quality rental providers
•
stable construction markets which are likely to grow slightly faster than
the rate of uk gdp because of the need for infrastructure renewal and 
•
investment in higher return product areas such as our recent purchase 
of lux trafﬁc controls
ashtead t echnology
ashtead technology operates in two main markets
•
rental of subsea survey and positioning equipment to the offshore 
oil and gas industries together with rental to the telecommunications
cablelaying market and
•
onshore rental of a range of environmental test and measurement 
nondestructive testing and remote visual inspection equipment
ashtead technology’s offshore activities are conducted globally from three
proﬁt centres in aberdeen uk houston us and singapore whereas its
onshore activities trade through nine proﬁt centres in the us and one in
the uk its ﬂeet by asset category is shown in the chart above
ashtead technology’s key competitor in both of its markets is a privately
owned business
offshore seatronics a craig group business also headquartered in aberdeen
onshore pine environmental based in east windsor new jersey us
future market trends
we expect ashtead technology’s development in coming years will be
driven by
•
the increasing importance of new markets such as west africa and asia
and the need for oil and gas exploration to access deeper waters
together with the development of new ﬁelds 
•
ongoing development of both environmental monitoring and non
destructive testing in the onshore market and
•
higher levels of maintenance required in the offshore oil and gas industry
as it exploits aging assets in an environment of increasing health and
safety concerns 
our strategy
ashtead aims to be a leader in the global equipment rental business
delivering strong returns for its investors through the exploitation of growth
opportunities and by being world class at what we do we aim to achieve
these objectives by generating strong organic growth combined with
growth through acquisition as well as delivering high levels of customer
satisfaction 
we believe that the group’s key strengths lie in its ability to manage and
incentivise its staff to deliver strong returns on investment from a capital
asset base comprising large numbers of individually modest value assets
and in the computer systems it has developed to facilitate this these skills
were ﬁrst applied successfully in the uk through aplant and then in the 
us where sunbelt has now grown to be four times larger than aplant 
in a substantially larger market they have also been applied in ashtead
technology whose product range is very different but where the group’s
core skills are also relevant in years to come we believe that it may be
appropriate for the group to continue to broaden the product types and
geographical markets in which it applies its key strengths
acquisitions
we made two important acquisitions in 2006 nationsrent in the us 
and lux trafﬁc controls in the uk our acquisitions strategy is based on
expanding our market share either by geography or by product category
particularly if such a product category is of a more specialist nature and
hence delivers a higher rental value 
nationsrent
in august 2006 sunbelt acquired nationsrent companies inc the sixth
largest provider of equipment rental services in the us for an initial
consideration including acquired debt of approximately 1bn the
combined business is now the second largest rental company in the 
us serving principally the private nonresidential construction market 
the acquisition was funded by a rights issue which raised approximately
£150m drawings under a new 175bn senior secured credit facility and
550m of new senior loan notes the nationsrent locations have already
been integrated fully into the sunbelt network the two companies’ proﬁt
centre networks integrated together well with very little overlap and the
1
2
5
4
3
6
7
aplant fleet by asset category
1 general plant 54
2 aerial work platforms 13
3 portable site accommodation 9
4 tools 9
5 acrow framework  falsework 6
6 power generation 5
7 traffic management 4
1
2
ashtead technology fleet by asset category
1 offshore 64
2 onshore 36
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxdlayout 1  12707  1507  page 17 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 18
nationsrent network has increased the number of major markets in 
which we have a clustered presence from 18 to 31 in addition to the good
ﬁt of rental locations the acquisition offered the opportunity for realising
signiﬁcant cost savings from combining central and regionaldistrict
functions the integration programme concluded at the end of january and
has delivered cost savings at an annual rate of 48m in the fourth quarter
lux trafﬁc controls
the £155m acquisition of lux trafﬁc controls limited when combined
with aplant’s existing trafﬁc systems rental business makes aplant the
largest provider of rental trafﬁc systems in the uk and extends signiﬁcantly
our penetration of this attractive market lux’s network of 44 locations has
been integrated fully with aplant and we have already achieved signiﬁcant
back ofﬁce cost savings the acquisition formed part of our strategic plan to
develop our specialist businesses and delivered a market leading position in
the uk trafﬁc systems rental market
our business model
the group focuses on equipment rental during 20067 approximately 
94 of our revenue was derived from equipment rental and rental related
services with the balance coming from sales of new equipment parts 
and associated goods such as equipment accessorieswe believe that
equipment rental offers the opportunity to earn substantially higher returns
than those which are earned by equipment dealers whose margins are
effectively capped by the equipment manufacturer
the group believes that this focused and dedicated approach improves 
the effectiveness of its rental sales force by encouraging them to build 
and reinforce relationships with customers and to concentrate on strong
wholelife returns from our rental ﬂeet rather than on shortterm returns
from sales of equipment in contrast many of our competitors in the
equipment rental industry especially in the us follow a mixed business
approach providing rentals selling new equipment and trading used equipment
our most important ﬁnancial objective is to deliver return on investment
roi
1
well ahead of our cost of capital in particular we drive roi by 
the incentivisation of our people to deliver superior returns through our
monthly paid proﬁt share programmes all our staff have the opportunity 
to enhance their earnings based on the returns delivered by the proﬁt
centre in which they work
although roi has been impacted by the acquisition in august 2006 of the
lower margin nationsrent business the chart opposite shows that through
the last cycle since our ﬁscal year ending april 2004 the group has earned
an average roi including goodwill of 12 – ahead of our cost of capital
we believe that this performance compares favourably with our peers
the group strives to maximise its return on investment through a
combination of measures in addition to our monthly proﬁt share
programme we encourage effective management of invested capital by
•
maintaining a concentration of higherreturn often specialised
equipment within the overall rental equipment ﬂeet
•
promoting the transfer of equipment to locations where maximum
utilisation rates and returns can be obtained
•
monitoring the amount of invested capital at each of our proﬁt centres
and
•
empowering regional and local managers to adapt pricing policies in
response to local demand in order to maximise the overall return
achieved from our investment in our rental ﬂeet
we also manage the size and composition of our rental ﬂeet by continuing
to assess and dispose of older or underperforming equipment and adapting
the level of our capital expenditure to economic activity levels
our operating model is key to the way we deliver these returns and
encompasses the following elements
•
our local management teams are strong and highly incentivised
producing superior ﬁnancial returns and high quality standards many of
our most senior people started their careers by working in the front line
at a proﬁt centre
•
our large sales forces are incentivised to target higher return rental
opportunities as well as a high volume of contracts overallwe believe
that our sales force commission plans are amongst the best in the industry
business and financial review
continued
apr
04
69
jul
04
77
oct
04
92
107
jan
05
apr
05
jul
05
oct
05
jan
06
apr
06
jul
06
oct
06
jan
07
apr
07
110
119
128
138
147
154
141
132
129
group return on investment 
1 return on investment is deﬁned as underlying operating proﬁt divided by the weighted
average capital employed shareholders’ funds plus net debt and deferred tax less the
pension fund surplus and other ﬁnancial assets – derivatives
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  509 pm  page 18 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 19
•
in the us we achieve scale through a “clustered market” approach 
of grouping our rental locations into clusters of three to 15 locations 
in each of our developed markets throughout the us sunbelt has
developed such “clustered markets” in 31 major cities including
washington dc dallas houston charlotte atlanta orlando and seattle
this strategic approach allows us to provide a comprehensive product
offering and convenient service to our customers wherever their job sites
may be within these markets
•
in the smaller geography of the uk our strategy is focused on having
sufﬁcient proﬁt centres to allow us to offer a full range of equipment on
a nationwide basis as described elsewhere we are investing in the proﬁt
centre infrastructure over the coming year to create fewer larger sites
with higher levels of activity these larger pools of equipment and staff
will improve operational efﬁciency and enable aplant to meet the needs
of its customer better
•
we aim to operate a wide range of equipment within our rental ﬂeets 
to maximise the extent to which we can fulﬁl our customers’ needs
•
we offer a full service solution for our customers our product range
includes specialist equipment types such as pump  power scaffolding
and trafﬁc management systems which involve providing service
expertise as well as equipment
•
we invest heavily in our computerised point of sale and service systems
we use these systems not only to help us manage our business to deliver
strong ﬁnancial returns but also to meet the needs of our customerswe
deployed one of the ﬁrst extranets in the industry to provide qualifying
customers with complete information on the equipment they have on
rent and on the status of their account more recently we have deployed
mobile data capture devices to record the time of delivery and the
customer’s signature electronically allowing us to systematically monitor
and report on ontime deliverieswe also use electronic tracking systems
to monitor and secure the location and usage of large equipment
customers
our business is highly diverse in the year to april 2007 we dealt with over
800000 customers in sunbelt we wrote 2 million rental contracts with 
an average value of 670 per contract and issued over 32 million invoices
our uk business aplant though smaller is almost as diverse it wrote
540000 rental contracts and issued 11 million invoices in the year to 
april 2007 in the uk we have focused in recent years on building deeper
relationships with our larger customers with our largest 150 accounting 
for 42 of our 20067 revenues
our customers range in size and scale from multinational businesses
through strong local contractors to individual doityourselferswe have
loyal customers many of whom we have dealt with for many years our
experience is that we gain a large amount of repeat business and our
operating methods and focus on customer service aim to support and
enhance thiswe guarantee our service worldwide and believe that we are
unique amongst our peers in the us in offering our customers the sunbelt
guarantee under which we voluntarily accept penalties if we fail to meet
our commitments to customers
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 19 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 20
we believe that our focus on customer service and its guarantee assists 
us in distinguishing ourselves from our competitors and helps us to deliver
superior ﬁnancial returns
the group’s diversiﬁed customer base includes construction industrial 
and homeowner customers as well as government entities and specialist
contractors and is analysed by standard industry classiﬁcation in the 
tables above
as a large portion of our customer base comes from the commercial
construction and industrial sectors the group is dependent on the level of
commercial construction or industrial activity the factors which inﬂuence
this activity include
•
the strength of the us and uk economies over the long term including
the level of government spending
•
the level of interest rates and
•
demand within business that drives the need for commercial construction
or industrial equipment
however the group’s geographical scale and diversiﬁed customer base
assist in mitigating the adverse impact of these factors on the group’s
performance through
•
reducing the impact of localised economic ﬂuctuations on our overall
ﬁnancial performance
•
reducing our dependence on any particular customer or group of
customers and
•
enabling us to meet the needs of larger customers who have a wide
range of equipment needs
suppliers
as the second largest equipment rental company in the world the group
purchases large amounts of equipment parts and other items from its
suppliers most of whom operate globally the group’s capital expenditure
on rental equipment for 20067 was £2564m the group believes that its
scale and this level of capital expenditure enables it to negotiate favourable
pricing warranty and other terms with its suppliers which provide it with a
competitive advantage over smaller operators
across our rental ﬂeet we seek generally to carry equipment from one or
two manufacturers in each product range and to limit the number of model
types of each productwe believe that having a standardised ﬂeet results in
lower costs because we obtain greater discounts by purchasing spare parts
in bulk and reduce maintenance costs through more focused and therefore
reduced training requirements for our workshop staffwe are also able 
to share spare parts better between proﬁt centres which helps to minimise
the risk of over stockingwe purchase equipment from suppliers with
strong reputations for product quality and reliability and maintain close
relationships with these suppliers to ensure good after purchase service and
support however we believe the group has sufﬁcient alternative sources 
of supply for the equipment it purchases in each of its product categories
people
in a service business we believe that it is always the people which make
the difference across the group we employ thousands of dedicated
personnel who every day of the week provide our customers with the
service they require at 30 april 2007 the disposition of our staff was
sunbelt aplant technology corporate total
number of staff 7524 2424 115 14 10077
business and financial review
continued
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
sunbelt
1 commercial construction 15
2 government  institutional 5
3 industrial manufacturing  agriculture 9
4 infrastructure 9
5 nonconstruction services 13
6 residential construction 6
7 small contractordiy 12
8 speciality trade contractors 32
1
2 3
4
5
6
7
8
aplant
1 commercial construction 48
2 government  institutional 3
3 industrial manufacturing  agriculture 7
4 infrastructure 9
5 nonconstruction services 14
6 residential construction 1
7 small contractordiy 5
8 speciality trade contractors 13
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  515 pm  page 20 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 21
we motivate and reward our people through our local proﬁt share
programmes these are based at the store level and apply to all personnel
at the store irrespective of length of service they are generally paid
monthly which gives immediate returns for good performance payment 
of proﬁt share at any proﬁt centre is based on that proﬁt centre’s
performance and is dependent on the level of its return on assets senior
management is remunerated separately using similar criteria while the sales
force is incentivised based on sales volumes and a broad measure of return on
investment determined by reference to equipment type and discount level
we invest heavily in training and in the past year focused our efforts
particularly on the staff who joined the group on 31 august 2006 with 
the nationsrent acquisition sunbelt trained over 1300 nationsrent staff
in a combination of offsite classroom training and on the job training in 
our methods operating culture and systems
environment health and safety
ashtead is committed to ensuring the highest standards of health and
safety in our day to day operationswe are also focused increasingly on
expanding efforts to limit the environmental impact of our work health
and safety concerns for our customers are a key driver for our business 
as it is a factor contributing to the decision to rent rather than purchase
equipment which then has to be maintained and serviced regularly
further information on our environment health and safety policies and
procedures can be found in the section on corporate responsibility within
the directors’ report
risks and uncertainties
seasonality and cyclicality
our revenue and operating results depend signiﬁcantly on activity in 
the commercial construction industry in the us and the uk commercial
construction activity tends to decrease in the winter and during extended
periods of inclement weather and increase in the summer and during
extended periods of mild weather furthermore due to the incidence 
of public holidays in the us and the uk there are more billing days in the
ﬁrst half of our ﬁnancial year than the second half this results in changes
in demand for our rental equipment in addition the commercial
construction industries in the us and the uk are cyclical industries with
activity levels that tend to increase in line with gdp growth and decline
during an economic downturn the seasonality and cyclicality of the
equipment rental industry results in variable demand and therefore our
revenue and operating results will ﬂuctuate from period to period the
group’s ﬂexible business model allows it to modify the use of free cash
ﬂow according to the economic cycle as described elsewhere in this review
currency translation
our reporting currency is the pound sterling however a majority of 
our assets liabilities revenue and costs are denominated in us dollars
we have arranged our ﬁnancing such that approximately 98 of our 
debt is denominated in us dollars so that we have a natural partial offset
between our dollardenominated net assets and earnings and our dollar
denominated debt and interest expense fluctuations in the value of the 
us dollar with respect to the pound therefore have had and may continue
to have a signiﬁcant impact on our ﬁnancial condition and results of
operations as reported in pounds this impact is greatest on our revenue
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 21 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 22
and operating proﬁts but less signiﬁcant on our proﬁts before and after 
tax which are stated after deduction of our largely dollardenominated
interest expense
in the year ended 30 april 2007 the depreciation of the dollar against the
pound reduced our total revenue by approximately 56 and our pretax
proﬁts by approximately 37 in each case compared to the exchange
rates ruling during the year ended 30 april 2006
accordingly throughout this business and financial review we also present
the changes in our reported results in one period as compared to the
equivalent prior period at constant exchange rates which assumes that 
the us dollar amounts for both periods were consolidated and translated 
at the average exchange rate applied in the ﬁnancial statements for the
year ended 30 april 2007
environmental and safety matters
our operations are subject to numerous laws governing environmental
protection and occupational health and safety matters these laws regulate
such issues as wastewater stormwater solid and hazardous wastes and
materials and air quality under these laws we may be liable for among
other things the cost of investigating and remediating contamination at
our sites as well as sites to which we send hazardous wastes for disposal 
or treatment regardless of fault and also ﬁnes and penalties for non
compliance our operations generally do not raise signiﬁcant environmental
risks but we use hazardous materials to clean and maintain equipment
dispose of solid and hazardous waste and wastewater from equipment
washing and store and dispense petroleum products from underground 
and aboveground storage tanks located at some of our locationswe take
our environmental and health and safety responsibilities seriously and have
stringent policies and procedures in place at all our proﬁt centres to help
minimise undue impact on the environment and keep our employees safe
based on the conditions currently known to us we do not believe that any
pending or likely remediation and compliance costs will have a material
adverse effect on our business
acquisitions
our strategy is based on organic growth and growth through acquisition
the opportunity to grow through acquisition depends on the availability 
of suitable businesses at an acceptable price it is the group’s practice to
obtain external advice on acquisitions and undertake full due diligence 
to ensure the acquired business is understood fully in addition we seek to
minimise the risks associated with the integration and achieving ﬁnancial
and operational synergies through the development of detailed integration
plans the price paid and performance of the acquired business post
acquisition will impact our results in future periods
legal proceedings
the group is party to certain legal proceedings arising in the ordinary
course of business the results of such proceedings cannot be predicted
with certainty but we do not believe any of these matters are material 
to our ﬁnancial condition or results of operations
financial review
presentation of ﬁnancial information
revenue
our revenue is a function of our rental rates and the size utilisation and
mix of our equipment rental ﬂeet the prices we charge are affected 
in large measure by utilisation and the relative attractiveness of our rental
equipment while utilisation is determined by market size and our market
share as well as general economic conditions utilisation is time based
utilisation which is calculated as the original cost of equipment on rent 
as a percentage of the total original cost of equipment in the ﬂeet at the
measurement date in the us we measure time utilisation on those items
in our ﬂeet with an original cost of 7500 or more which constituted 87
of our us serialised rental equipment at 30 april 2007 in the uk time
utilisation is measured for all our serialised rental equipment the size
mix and relative attractiveness of our rental equipment ﬂeet is affected
signiﬁcantly by the level of our capital expenditure
the main components of our revenue are
•
revenue from equipment rentals including related revenues such as the
fees we charge for equipment delivery erection and dismantling services
for our scaffolding rentals fuel provided with the equipment we rent to
customers and loss damage waiver fees and
•
revenue from sales of new merchandise including sales of parts and
revenues from a limited number of sales of new equipment
the proceeds we generate from the disposal of used rental equipment do
not form part of revenue instead we show the gain relative to book value
in our income statement as other income in the year ended 30 april 2007
the underlying gain on sale of property plant and equipment was £118m
2006 £91m
operating costs
the main components of our operating costs before exceptional costs are
•
staff costs – staff costs at our proﬁt centres as well as at our central
support ofﬁces represent the largest single component of our total costs
staff costs consist of salaries proﬁt share and bonuses social security
costs and other pension costs and comprised 376 of our total
operating costs in the year ended 30 april 2007
•
other operating costs – comprised 413 of total costs in the year ended
30 april 2007 these costs include
– spare parts consumables and outside repair costs – costs incurred for
the purchase of spare parts used by our workshop staff to maintain and
repair our rental equipment as well as outside repair costs
– facilities costs – rental payments on leased facilities as well as utility
costs and local property taxes relating to these facilities
– vehicle costs – costs incurred for the maintenance and operation of our
vehicle ﬂeet which consist of our delivery trucks the light commercial
vehicles used by our mobile workshop staff and cars used by our sales
force proﬁt centre managers and other management staff and
– other costs – all other costs incurred in operating our business
including the costs of new equipment and merchandise sold
advertising costs and bad debt expense
•
depreciation – the depreciation of our property plant and equipment
including rental equipment comprised 211 of total costs in the year
ended 30 april 2007
business and financial review
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 22 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 23
a large proportion of our costs are ﬁxed in the short to medium term and
material adjustments in the size of our cost base typically result only from
openings or closures of one or more of our proﬁt centres accordingly our
business model is such that small increases or reductions in our revenue
can result in little or no change in our costs and often therefore have a
disproportionate impact on our proﬁts we refer to this feature of our
business as “operational leverage”
critical accounting policies
we prepare and present our ﬁnancial statements in accordance with
applicable international financial reporting standards ifrs in applying
many accounting principles we need to make assumptions estimates 
and judgements these assumptions estimates and judgements are often
subjective and may be affected by changing circumstances or changes in
our analysis changes in these assumptions estimates and judgements have
the potential to materially affect our resultswe have identiﬁed below
those of our accounting policies that we believe would most likely produce
materially different results were we to change underlying assumptions
estimates and judgements these policies have been applied consistently
useful lives of property plant and equipment
we record expenditures for property plant and equipment at costwe
depreciate equipment using the straightline method over its estimated
useful economic life which ranges from 3 to 20 years with a weighted
average life of 8 yearswe use an estimated residual value of 10 of cost
in respect of most types of our rental equipment zero for scaffolding and
similar equipment 15 for aerial work platforms and 20 for steel site
accommodation unitswe establish our estimates of useful life and residual
value with the objective of allocating most appropriately the cost of
property plant and equipment to our income statement over the period 
we anticipate it will be used in our business
we may need to change these estimates if experience shows that the
current estimates are not achieving this objective if these estimates 
change in the future we may then need to recognise increased or
decreased depreciation expense our total depreciation expense in 
the year ended 30 april 2007 was £1607m
impairment of assets
goodwill is not amortised but is tested annually for impairment at 30 april
each year assets that are subject to amortisation or depreciation are
reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances
indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable an impairment
loss is recognised in the income statement for the amount by which the
asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount for the purposes
of assessing impairment assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which
there are separately identiﬁable and independent cash ﬂows for the asset
being tested for impairment in the case of goodwill impairment is assessed
at the level of the group’s three reporting units the recoverable amount is
the higher of an asset’s fair value less costs to sell and value in use
management necessarily applies its judgement in estimating the timing
and value of underlying cash ﬂows within the value in use calculation as
well as determining the appropriate discount rate subsequent changes to 
the magnitude and timing of cash ﬂows could impact the carrying value 
of the respective assets
selfinsurance
we establish provisions at the end of each ﬁnancial year to cover our
estimate of the discounted liability for uninsured retained risks on unpaid
claims arising out of events occurring up to the end of the ﬁnancial year
the estimate includes events incurred but not reported at the balance
sheet date the provision is established using advice received from external
actuaries who help us extrapolate historical trends and estimate the most
likely level of future expense which we will incur on outstanding claims
these estimates may however change based on varying circumstances
including changes in our experience of the costs we incur in settling claims
over time accordingly we may be required to increase or decrease the
provision held for selfinsured retained risk at 30 april 2007 the total
provision for selfinsurance recorded in our consolidated balance sheet 
was £208m 2006 £158m
pensions
we account for the cost of pension plans for employees by charging the
expected cost of providing pensions over the period during which we
beneﬁt from the employees’ services in respect of deﬁned beneﬁts plans
actuarial valuations are made regularly and the contributions payable 
are adjusted in light of these valuations however these adjustments may
be signiﬁcant and may result in an increase or decrease in the cost of
providing the deﬁned beneﬁt pensions in the year ended 30 april 2007 
the total pension cost was £47m of which £11m was in respect of deﬁned
beneﬁt plans
revenue recognition
revenue represents the total amount receivable for the provision of goods
and services to customers net of returns and value added tax rental
revenue including loss damage waiver fees is recognised on a straight 
line basis over the period of the rental contract because the terms and
conditions of a rental contract can extend across ﬁnancial reporting period
ends the group records unbilled rental revenue and deferred revenue 
at the beginning and end of the reporting periods so rental revenue is
appropriately stated in the ﬁnancial statements
revenue from rental equipment delivery and collection is recognised when
delivery or collection has occurred
revenue from the sale of new equipment parts and supplies retail
merchandise and fuel is recognised at the time of delivery to or collection
by the customer and when all obligations under the sales contract have
been fulﬁlled
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 23 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 24
full year 2007 results compared with prior year
revenue increased 482 at constant 2007 exchange rates to £8961m and
by 405 at actual rates ebitda before exceptional items grew by 462
at constant exchange rates to £3103m and by 381 at actual rates total
ebitda increased 146 at actual rates to £2728m
before exceptional items and amortisation operating proﬁt increased to
£1505m an increase of 447 at constant exchange rates and 355 at
actual rates after substantial exceptional items and amortisation relating
principally to the nationsrent acquisition operating proﬁt declined £234m
from £1245m to £1011m in 20067 return on investment reduced to
129 from 147 in 20056 reﬂecting the acquisition of the lower margin
nationsrent business return on investment excluding capitalised goodwill
was 163 2006 180
full year 2007 results compared with prior year
2007 2006
before before
exceptional exceptional exceptional exceptional
items items items items
amortisation amortisation amortisation amortisation
and fair value and fair value and fair value and fair value
remeasurements remeasurements total remeasurements remeasurements total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
revenue 8961 – 8961 6380 – 6380
staff costs 2846 101 2947 2001 03 2004
other operating costs 3130 265 3395 2223 13 2236
other income 118 09 109 91 150 241
ebitda 3103 375 2728 2247 134 2381
depreciation 1598 09 1607 1136 – 1136
amortisation – 110 110 –––
operating proﬁt 1505 494 1011 1111 134 1245
net ﬁnancing costs 691 685 1376 436 08 428
proﬁt before taxation 814 1179 365 675 142 817
t axation
– current 04 – 04 01 54 55
– deferred 283 731 448 210 04 206
proﬁt for the period 527 448 79 464 92 556
ebitda is presented here as an additional performance measure as it is commonly used by investors and lenders
divisional performance
divisional results are summarised opposite and are stated before
exceptional items
sunbelt
on a reported basis revenue increased 598 in the year to 13079m
reﬂecting principally the nationsrent acquisition the table opposite shows
a pro forma performance comparison assuming that nationsrent had been
acquired as of 1 may 2005
sunbelt’s pro forma combined revenues grew 8 in 20067 reﬂecting
•
good growth in rental and rental related revenues outside the hurricane
affected areas of 96
•
signiﬁcant impact from hurricane related revenues in the year to 30 april
2006 which was not repeated in the year to 30 april 2007 when no
major hurricane reached landfall in the us as a result rental and rental
related revenues in the main hurricane affected states of florida alabama
mississippi and louisiana rose only 57 over the previous year and
•
the application of the sunbelt business model at nationsrent following
the acquisition which resulted in a reduction of 36m or 48 in new
equipment sales revenues
business and financial review
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  1140 am  page 24 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 25
pro forma dollar utilisation for the year to 30 april 2007 was 62 and
compares to 59 in the previous year
on a pro forma basis operating costs excluding depreciation rose 18 
in the period to 10065m this reﬂected increased personnel costs and
higher maintenance costs to service current activity levels as well as growth
in fuel and insurance costs offset by an early contribution from cost savings
resulting from the integration of the regional and back ofﬁce functions and
from the proﬁt centre mergers
reﬂecting these developments pro forma ebitda for the year grew 222
to 5321m and the pro forma ebitda margin improved to 346 from
306 in 2006 pro forma divisional operating proﬁt grew 431 to
2723m representing a margin of 177 2006 134
returning now to the reported results which include nationsrent only 
from its 31 august 2006 acquisition date operating proﬁt grew 442 
to 2531m whilst the operating proﬁt margin declined from 214 in
20056 to 194this decline reﬂected the inclusion of the less proﬁtable
nationsrent business from 1 september 2006
in the coming year we expect that the opportunity to raise revenues at the
acquired nationsrent proﬁt centres by reducing the large dollar utilisation
gap identiﬁed above between the two companies’ performance together
with the realisation of the regional and head ofﬁce integration cost savings
estimated at 48m in a full year will enable sunbelt to raise its operating
proﬁt margin from that reported in the year to 30 april 2007 approximately
25m of the integration cost savings were realised in the results for the
year to 30 april 2007
return on investment including capitalised goodwill reduced to 140 
from 172 in 2006 excluding capitalised goodwill return on investment
reduced to 187 from 231 in 2006 these reductions reﬂect the
consolidation in this year’s reported results of the underperforming
nationsrent business
sunbelt’s results in sterling reﬂected the factors discussed above and the
weak us dollar
divisional performance
revenue ebitda operating proﬁt
2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006
sunbelt in m 13079 8187 4750 3079 2531 1755
sunbelt in £m 6846 4612 2486 1734 1325 989
aplant 1899 1607 589 489 201 139
ashtead technology 216 161 110 80 62 40
group central costs – – 82 56 83 57
8961 6380 3103 2247 1505 1111
sunbelt
revenue ebitda operating proﬁt
2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006
m m m m m m
sunbelt – as reported 13079 8187 4750 3079 2531 1755
nationsrent 2307 6058 571 1274 192 149
pro forma combined 15386 14245 5321 4353 2723 1904
pro forma margin 346 306 177 134
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 25 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 26
aplant
aplant’s revenue for the year was £1899m compared to £1607m last
year this reﬂected same store growth of approximately 11 and the
acquisition of lux trafﬁc controls limited on 16 october 2006 the pro
forma combined performance of aplant and lux is shown above
on a pro forma combined basis revenue grew 11 to £1994m this
reﬂected the restructuring of aplant’s sales force undertaken in 20056
which contributed to a signiﬁcantly improved performance rental rates
average ﬂeet size and utilisation for the year all improved with average
utilisation of 69 for the year 2006 65 rate growth of 1 and a 
ﬂeet size which grew 5
aplant’s sales operations are now structured in a single national
organisation to serve the differing requirements of national regional and
local customers in a more focused way senior sales management resources
have been increased as has the size of the sales force to ensure that aplant
can address the needs of a uk construction market which continues to
show solid growth the emphasis placed by customers on health and safety
continues to increase and is driving further outsourcing activity coupled
with a need for the rental equipment provider to be able to monitor and
measure its performance across a range of key performance indicators
these trends are beneﬁting aplant which with its national presence and
established it systems is one of only a few providers able to meet national
customers’ needs revenues from its largest 150 customers continued to
grow and represented 42 of the year’s total
operating costs before depreciation grew in line with the revenue growth
whilst the depreciation charge reﬂected the 5 growth in average ﬂeet
size consequently pro forma ebitda for the year increased 185 to
£600m representing an ebitda margin of 301 compared to 283 in
2006 pro forma divisional operating proﬁt increased 404 to £207m
representing a margin of 104 2006 82
on a reported basis the operating proﬁt was £201m and the operating
margin was 106 2006 86
return on investment increased to 88 from 70 in 2006 excluding
goodwill return on investment increased to 93 from 71 in 2006
ashtead technology
revenue for the year grew 389 at constant exchange rates to £216m
and by 342 at actual exchange rates divisional operating proﬁt increased
by 573 at constant exchange rates to £62m and by 530 at actual
exchange rates this reﬂects increased investment by the oil majors which 
is delivering higher offshore exploration and construction activity as well as
continued growth in ashtead technology’s onshore environmental business
investment for future growth included new proﬁt centres in baton rouge
and philadelphia return on investment was 351 2006 294
exceptional items and fair value remeasurements of embedded
derivatives
in addition to the trading results discussed above the consolidated income
statement includes signiﬁcant exceptional costs relating to the acquisitions
of nationsrent and lux as well as to the programme to improve aplant’s
operational efﬁciency the key elements of these costs are
uk 
nationsrent lux restructuring other total
£m £m £m £m £m
debt redemption 
costs paid at closing 421 – – – 421
noncash 
ﬁnancing costs 259 – – – 259
integration  
closure costs 315 05 62 07 389
995 05 62 07 1069
paid in cash in the year 601 04 04 07 616
payable in future years
– in less than one year 98 01 06 – 105
– in more than one year 20 – 38 – 58
noncash items 276 – 14 – 290
995 05 62 07 1069
nationsrent debt redemption costs relate to the premia payable on
redeeming a the outstanding nationsrent secured bonds and b the
outstanding ashtead 12 senior secured notes these amounts were paid
in cash on 31 august 2006 but are required to be expensed in the income
statement and not taken to cost of acquisition because ashtead made the
decision to redeem in order to facilitate the ﬁnancing of the acquisition
noncash costs relating to nationsrent comprise a the noncash write off
of the value placed on the early prepayment option in the ashtead notes
and b the write off of deferred ﬁnancing costs on the ashtead debt
redeemed in the acquisition reﬁnancing
business and financial review
continued
aplant
revenue ebitda operating proﬁt
2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006
£m £m £m £m £m £m
aplant – as reported 1899 1607 589 489 201 139
lux trafﬁc 95 184 11 17 06 09
pro forma combined 1994 1791 600 506 207 148
pro forma margin 301 283 104 82
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 26 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 27
nationsrent integration and closure costs comprise a redundancies and
severance costs of £72m to deliver the head ofﬁce and regional integration
cost savings b retention bonuses of £20m paid largely to redundant staff
to retain them until their services were no longer required c provision for
future rent on facilities vacated in fort lauderdale and in the merged proﬁt
centres £62m d rebranding costs of £94m for the nationsrent proﬁt
centres and ﬂeet and e £67m of other costs
lux integration costs totalled £05m uk restructuring costs relate principally to
a provision of £45m to write off leasehold improvements and for future rent
and rates on facilities vacated in the uk as we invest in larger better quality
premises which will serve a larger area with a bigger ﬂeet than the facilities
they replace and accordingly provide greater efﬁciency through increased scale
of the total exceptional costs incurred of £1069m £290m are noncash
items whilst £616m of the cash items had been paid by yearend with
£163m to be paid in future periods £105m of this amount mostly
relating to the rebranding programme and to nationsrent redundancy
payments deferred for six months under the us tax code will be paid 
in 20078 the remainder mostly relating to vacant property provisions
will be payable over the following two to three years
amortisation of acquired brand names and other acquired intangibles
£110m of intangible amortisation relating mostly to the nationsrent
acquisition was incurred in the year this included the amortisation of the
acquired nationsrent brand name appraised cost – £94m over the period
from acquisition until 30 april 2007 when the rebranding of the acquired ﬂeet
and properties was essentially completed and the name was no longer in use
net ﬁnancing costs 
net ﬁnancing costs for the year increased to £1376m from £428m in
2006 due primarily to the additional debt taken on in the nationsrent
acquisition and to the exceptional ﬁnancing costs incurred in delivering 
the new debt structure
before exceptional costs and fair value remeasurements net ﬁnancing costs
increased from £436m to £691m reﬂecting higher average debt levels
following the nationsrent acquisition and slightly higher average interest
rates compared to the previous year the average interest rate beneﬁted
from the repayment of the remaining 12 notes and from a lower margin
under our ﬁrst priority asset based senior secured loan facility but these
beneﬁts have been offset by increases in us dollar interest rates payable
under our ﬂoating rate senior facility the average interest rate payable at
30 april 2007 on all of our debt facilities including the impact of
amortisation of deferred debt raising costs was 8
lossproﬁt before taxation
reﬂecting the large exceptional items there was a loss before taxation 
of £365m compared with a proﬁt of £817m in 2006 underlying proﬁt
before tax was £814m compared to last year’s £675m after taxation
the proﬁt for the year was £79m compared to £556m in 2006
t axation
overall for the year the effective accounting tax rate on the underlying proﬁt
was 35 whilst the cash tax rate on the same basis remained minimal
following the reﬁnancing of the group at the time of the nationsrent
acquisition and the improved trading results at aplant the group has
recognised as an exceptional proﬁt a previously unrecognised uk deferred
tax asset of £359mthe remaining tax credit for the year of £85m comprises
a charge on proﬁts before tax exceptional items and intangible amortisation
of £287m and a deferred tax credit of £372m on the exceptional items and
intangible amortisationthe £287m underlying tax charge consists of a
current tax charge of £01m relating to singapore 2006 £01m a current
tax charge of £03m relating to the us 2006 £04m a deferred tax charge
of £60m relating to the uk 2006 credit of £29m a deferred tax charge of
£222m relating to the us 2006 charge of £235m and a deferred tax
charge of £01m relating to singapore 2006 £nil
the group anticipates that the value of its uk deferred tax asset will
reduce by £28m due to the proposed introduction of a lower rate of
corporation tax in 20078
as a result of the available tax losses in nationsrent which can be used
against the proﬁts from the combined business and the further tax loss
this year attributable largely to the exceptional integration and reﬁnancing
costs as well as the substantial tax losses still available in the uk the
group does not expect to have to make signiﬁcant tax payments in the
year to 30 april 2008 and believes that it will still beneﬁt from a cash tax
liability which is likely to be signiﬁcantly lower than the accounting tax
provision for a number of years thereafter
earnings per share
underlying basic earnings per share were 103p whilst basic earnings per
share were 15p these compare to 113p and 135p a year ago with the
reduction in the underlying eps attributable to the fact that 156 million
new ordinary shares were issued in the period mostly in the rights issue 
at the time of the nationsrent acquisition whereas as yet there has been
insufﬁcient time to deliver all the planned acquisition and integration
beneﬁts on a cash tax basis earnings per share before exceptional items
were 158p 2006 164p cash tax earnings per share comprises earnings
before exceptional items fair value remeasurements and deferred tax
divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue cash tax
earnings per share is considered to be a relevant measure of earnings per
share as most of the deferred tax liability is not expected to crystallise in
the foreseeable future
dividends
the directors are proposing to shareholders at the annual general meeting
that a ﬁnal dividend of 11p per share be paid making a total for the year of
165p per share 2006 15p the proposed ﬁnal dividend for this year will
if approved by shareholders be paid on 28 september 2007 to shareholders
on the register on 7 september 2007
balance sheet
property plant and equipment
principal amongst our property plant and equipment is the rental
equipment ﬂeet which comprises an extensive range of general
construction equipment supplemented by more specialised product groups
such as pumps welding equipment power generation equipment aerial
work platforms scaffolding shoring equipment and temporary
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 27 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 28
accommodation units the table below analyses capital expenditure in the
year between expenditure on the rental ﬂeet and total expenditure
2007 2006
rental rental
equipment total equipment total
£m £m £m £m
opening balance 5599 6467 4529 5371
exchange difference 484 544 163 186
additions 2564 2902 2018 2202
acquisitions at 
fair market value 3446 3852 322 353
reclassiﬁcations 04 – 03 –
disposals at 
net book value 531 590 474 509
depreciation 1384 1607 962 1136
closing balance 9206 10480 5599 6467
2007 2006
growth maintenance total total
sunbelt in m 1022 2460 3482 2579
sunbelt in £m 512 1230 1742 1419
aplant 171 567 738 521
ashtead technology 64 20 84 78
total rental equipment 747 1817 2564 2018
other ﬁxed assets 338 184
total additions 2902 2202
capital expenditure was increased signiﬁcantly in the year reﬂecting the
growth of the business following the nationsrent acquisition £747m of
the ﬂeet expenditure was for growth with the remainder being spent to
replace existing equipment this proportion is estimated on the basis of the
assumption that maintenance capital expenditure in any period is equal to
the original cost of equipment sold in that period replacement expenditure
included £10m on reconﬁguring the acquired nationsrent ﬂeet to reduce
the proportion of lower returning assets and increase the proportion of
higher returning assets expenditure on aplant’s rental ﬂeet was also
increased from £521m to £738m as performance improved
disposal proceeds amounted to £891m 2006 £637m in the year including
£192m from reconﬁguration disposal proceeds excluding the reconﬁguration
programme disposals of £699m generated a proﬁt on disposal of £118m
2006 £91m at a margin of 20 2006 18 above book value the
markets we use for disposing of used rental equipment continue to be
healthy no gain or loss was recognised on the reconﬁguration disposals as
these were treated as assets held for sale from the date of acquisition and
recorded at the acquisition date at net sale proceeds
the average age of the group’s serialised rental equipment which
constitutes the substantial majority of our ﬂeet at 30 april 2007 was 31
months on a net book value basis 2006 37 months at the same date
sunbelt’s ﬂeet had an average age of 32 months 2006 38 months
comprising 38 months for aerial work platforms which have a longer life
and 25 months for the rest of its ﬂeet whilst aplant’s ﬂeet had an average
age of 29 months 2006 36 months
in the year ending 30 april 2008 gross capital expenditure is expected to be
approximately £275m including nationsrent ﬂeet reconﬁguration spend
rolled over from 20067 disposal proceeds of approximately £50m are
expected to give net capital expenditure of approximately £225m
assets held for sale
this category comprises the remaining nationsrent equipment identiﬁed
as held for sale as part of the programme to reshape its ﬂeet to contain a
similar proportion of higher returning assets to sunbelt the lower returning
equipment is in the process of being disposed of and has been treated as
an asset held for sale on which no depreciation has been charged since the
acquisition date
trade and other receivables
receivable days increased to 54 days 2006 49 days this reﬂected the 
fact that the nationsrent receivables collected more slowly than those 
of sunbelt the bad debt charge as a percentage of total revenue was 07
in both 2007 and 2006
trade and other payables
group payable days increased to 72 days at 30 april 2007 from 57 days at
30 april 2006 with the increase attributable to increased payment periods
agreed with certain suppliers of rental equipment following the
nationsrent acquisition capital expenditure related payables at 30 april
2007 totalled £470m 2006 £300m payment periods for purchases other
than rental equipment vary between 7 and 60 days and for rental
equipment between 30 and 120 days
other provisions
other provisions of £323m 2006 £183m relate principally to the provision
for selfinsured retained risk under the group’s selfinsurance policies as well
as to the vacant property provisions discussed under exceptional items above
the group’s business exposes it to claims for personal injury death or
property damage resulting from the use of the equipment it rents and from
injuries caused in motor vehicle accidents in which its vehicles are involved
the group carries insurance covering a wide range of potential claims at
levels it believes are sufﬁcient to cover existing and future claims our liability
insurance programmes provide that we can recover only the liability related
to any particular claim in excess of an agreed excess amount of typically
between 500000 and 2m depending on the particular liability programme
in certain but not all cases this liability excess amount is subject to an
annual cap which limits the group’s maximum liability in respect of these
excess amounts to such annual cap our insured liability coverage is limited
to a maximum of £100m per occurrence
pensions
the group operates a number of pension plans for the beneﬁt of its employees
for which the overall charge included in the ﬁnancial statements was £47m
2006 £28m amongst these the group now has just one deﬁned beneﬁt
pension plan which covers approximately 280 employees in the uk and
which was closed to new members in 2001all our other pension plans are
deﬁned contribution plans
business and financial review
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 28 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 29
the group’s deﬁned beneﬁt pension plan was measured in accordance
with ias 19 employee beneﬁts £52m in surplus at 30 april 2007 during
the year asset values increased by £09m over and above the expected
return on plan assets of £38m included in the income statement in
addition the required market linked discount rate increased from 50 in
2006 to 55 in 2007 reducing the value of liabilities by £39m while we
also we strengthened the mortality assumptions to the “medium cohort”
which increased the value of liabilities by £23m accordingly there was a
net gain of £25m in the year which was credited direct to the statement
of recognised income and expense
under the medium cohort assumptions the life expectancy for a plan
member is as follows
male female
pensioner aged 65 in 2007 867 890
pensioner aged 65 in 2020 875 897
cash flow and net debt
the group’s ﬂexible business model allows us to focus on generating free
cash ﬂowwhen the economy is expanding we utilise this free cash ﬂow 
to increase investment in our rental ﬂeet to support revenue ebitda and
earnings growth and reduce the age of our rental ﬂeet in a less favourable
economic environment we reduce the rate at which we invest in new
equipment and increase the age of our rental ﬂeet which consequently
increases free cash ﬂow
free cash ﬂow in the year ended 30 april 2007 which is deﬁned to exclude
exceptional costs and which comprises our net cash inﬂow from operations
excluding exceptional items less net maintenance capital expenditure
interest and tax is summarised below
2007 2006
£m £m
ebitda before exceptional items 3103 2247
cash inﬂow from operations
before exceptional items 3193 2152
maintenance rental capital expenditure 2131 1499
nonrental capital expenditure 323 168
proceeds from sale of used rental equipment 785 504
tax paid 50 28
free cash ﬂow before interest 1474 961
financing costs paid 642 387
free cash ﬂow after interest 832 574
growth capital expenditure 629 626
acquisitions and disposals 3272 442
issue of ordinary share capital 1489 709
dividends paid 70 20
purchase of own shares by esot 49 28
pension plan funding – 171
exceptional costs paid 688 22
increase in total debt 2387 26
cash inﬂow from operations reﬂected principally the growth in reported
ebitda before exceptional items consequently cash inﬂow from
operations increased 484 to £3193m and the cash efﬁciency ratio was
1029 2006 958 as we continued to convert almost all our ebitda
into cash cash efﬁciency was enhanced by the reductions we effected in
the level of inventory at nationsrent
net maintenance rental capital expenditure increased to £1346m 2006
£995m as we again spent ahead of depreciation to reduce the age of 
our rental ﬂeets proceeds from the sale of property plant and equipment
principally used equipment rose 558 to £785m 2006 £504m and
represented 37 2006 34 of maintenance capital expenditure
expenditure on nonrental capital expenditure principally leasehold
improvements vehicles and computer equipment was £323m with the
increase over last year’s £168m reﬂecting principally higher delivery truck
replacements as we continue to migrate our delivery ﬂeet from off balance
sheet leased vehicles to owned vehicles cash tax payments in the year
were £50m financing costs excluding exceptional ﬁnancing costs paid
were broadly in line with the accounting charge the principal difference
being noncash ﬁnancing costs
acquisition and disposal expenditure of £3272m relates to the acquisitions
of nationsrent and lux with the majority of the proceeds from the issue 
of share capital of £1489m relating to the rights issue in connection with
the nationsrent acquisition the nationsrent acquisition was completed
on 31 august 2006 and in addition to the equity issue included the issue 
of 550m of new second lien 9 senior secured notes due 2016 the
proceeds of the rights issue and the debt issue were applied together with
drawings under the group’s 175bn senior credit facility to fund the
acquisition including reﬁnancing the acquired debt repaying our previous
800m senior credit facility and redeeming £78m of 12 second priority
senior secured loan notes due 2014
payments for exceptional items of £688m differ from the exceptional
income statement expense of £915m due to a the inclusion in
exceptional payments of £72m of interest paid at closing on the
nationsrent debt redeemed which was expensed prior to acquisition
b noncash items of £136m included in the income statement expense
and c accrued integration costs of £163m which have not yet been paid
based on current projections the group expects to be able to fund its 
cash requirements relating to its operations from existing sources of cash
including its committed borrowing facilities for at least the next 12 months
it expects that the principal needs for cash relating to existing operations
over the next 12 months will be to
•
fund operating expenses and working capital
•
fund the purchase of rental equipment and other capital expenditures and
•
service outstanding debt
while emphasising primarily internal growth the group also expects to
continue to expand through making acquisitions that it would expect to
fund by using cash share capital andor the assumption of debt
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 29 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 30
net debt
2007 2006
£m £m
first priority senior secured bank debt and overdraft 5061 2632
finance lease obligations 220 232
12 second priority senior secured notes due 2014 – 755
8625 second priority senior secured notes due 2015 1206 1327
9 second priority senior secured notes due 2016 2683 –
9170 4946
cash at bank and in hand 11 10
total net debt 9159 4936
net debt at 30 april 2007 was £9159m 2006 £4936m measured at
constant 30 april 2007 exchange rates the increase in net debt from
30 april 2006 was £4421m although net debt has increased largely due 
to the nationsrent acquisition the signiﬁcant growth in ebitda has
resulted in the ratio of net debt to pro forma ebitda before exceptional
items reducing from 32 times at the time of the nationsrent acquisition
to 27 times at 30 april 2007
bank loan facility
on 31 august 2006 the group agreed a new 175bn ﬁrst priority asset
based senior secured loan facility “the abl facility” the abl facility
consists of a 15bn revolving credit facility and a 250m term loan and is
secured by a ﬁrst priority interest in substantially all of the group’s assets
pricing is based on the ratio of funded debt to ebitda according to a grid
which varies depending on leverage from libor plus 200bp to libor plus
175bp for term borrowings and from libor plus 225bp to libor plus
150bp for revolver borrowings at 30 april 2007 the group’s borrowing rate
was libor plus 175bp on both the term loan and the revolver loan
the abl facility carries minimal amortisation of 1 per annum 25m 
on the term loan and is committed until august 2011
the abl facility includes a springing covenant package under which
quarterly ﬁnancial performance covenants are tested only if the availability
under the facility is less than 125m these covenants comprise a
maximum ratio of total debt to ebitda and a minimum ﬁxed charge ratio
the ratio of ebitda less capital expenditure net of disposal proceeds to
the sum of cash interest taxes distributions to equity holders and
scheduled principal debt repayments available liquidity under the abl
facility at 30 april 2007 was £295m 589m as the abl facility is asset
based the maximum amount available to be borrowed which includes
drawings in the form of standby letters of credit depends on asset values
receivables inventory rental equipment and real estate which are subject
to periodic independent appraisal
because liquidity at 30 april 2007 much exceeded the 125m springing
covenant level together with the fact that neither of the group’s other
debt facilities the senior secured notes due 2015 and 2016 contain
regularly measured ﬁnancial covenants the group does not have any
quarterly monitored ﬁnancial performance covenants to adhere to currently
and does not expect to have to adhere to them in the coming year
8625 second priority senior secured notes due 2015 having a nominal
value of 250m
on 3 august 2005 the group through its wholly owned subsidiary ashtead
holdings plc issued 250m of 8625 second priority senior secured notes
due 1 august 2015 the notes are secured by second priority security
interests over substantially the same assets as the ﬁrst priority senior
secured credit facility and are guaranteed by ashtead group plc
9 second priority senior secured notes due 2016 having a nominal value
of 550m
on 15 august 2006 the group through its wholly owned subsidiary
ashtead capital inc issued 550m of 9 second priority senior secured
notes due 15 august 2016 the notes are secured by second priority
security interests over substantially the same assets as the senior secured
credit facility and are also guaranteed by ashtead group plc the two note
issues rank pari passu on a second lien basis
under the terms of both the 8625 and 9 notes the group is subject 
to important exceptions restricted in its ability to incur additional debt
pay dividends make investments sell assets enter into sale and leaseback
transactions and merge or consolidate with another company interest is
payable on the 8625 notes on 1 february and 1 august of each year and
on the 9 notes on 15 february and 15 august of each year both senior
secured notes are listed on the ofﬁcial list of the uk listing authority
minimum contracted debt commitments
the table opposite summarises the maturity of the group’s debt and 
also shows the minimum annual commitments under off balance sheet
operating leases at 30 april 2007 by year of expiry
operating leases relate principally to properties most of which are leased
which constituted 978 £2320m of our total minimum operating lease
commitments there are also a few remaining operating leases relating to
the vehicle ﬂeet and plant and machinery which constituted the remaining
22 £53m of such commitments
except for the off balance sheet operating leases described above £186m
372m of standby letters of credit issued at 30 april 2007 under the 
ﬁrst priority senior debt facility relating to the group’s selfinsurance
programmes and a 06m performance guarantee utilised by sunbelt we
have no material commercial commitments that we could be obligated 
to pay in the future which are not included in the group’s consolidated
balance sheet
treasury policies
the group reports in sterling and pays dividends in sterling it is the role of
the group treasury function to manage and monitor the group’s internal
and external funding requirements and ﬁnancial risks in support of the
group’s corporate objectives treasury activities are governed by policies
and procedures approved by the board and monitored by the finance and
administration committee in particular the board of directors or through
delegated authority the finance and administration committee approves
any derivative transactions derivative transactions are only undertaken for
the purposes of managing interest rate risk and currency risk the group
does not trade in ﬁnancial instruments the group maintains treasury
business and financial review
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 30 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 business and financial review 31
control systems and procedures to monitor liquidity currency credit and
ﬁnancial risks
liquidity
the group generates signiﬁcant free cash ﬂow deﬁned as cash ﬂow from
operations less replacement capital expenditure net of proceeds of asset
disposal interest paid and tax paid this free cash ﬂow is available to the
group to invest in growth capital expenditure acquisitions and dividend
payments or to reduce debt
in addition to the strong free cash ﬂow from normal trading activities
additional liquidity is available through the group’s abl facility at 30 april
2007 availability under this facility was 589m £295m furthermore the
group seeks to maintain leverage at an average of 2 to 3 times net debt to
ebitda over the economic cycle
46 of the group’s drawn debt is at a ﬁxed rate also the group periodically
utilises interest rate swap agreements to manage and mitigate its exposure
to changes in interest rates however at 30 april 2007 the group had no
such outstanding swap agreements the group’s debt that bears interest 
at a variable rate comprises all outstanding borrowings under the senior
secured credit facility the interest rates currently applicable to this variable
rate debt are libor as applicable to the currency borrowed us dollars or
pounds plus 175bp for both term borrowings and revolver borrowings
at 30 april 2007 based upon the amount of variable rate debt outstanding
the group’s pretax proﬁts would change by approximately £5m for each
one percentage point change in interest rates applicable to the variable 
rate debt the amount of the group’s variable rate debt may ﬂuctuate as 
a result of changes in the amount of debt outstanding under the revolving
tranches of the senior secured credit facility
currency exchange risk management
the group’s reporting currency is the pound sterling however a majority
of our assets liabilities revenue and costs is denominated in us dollars the
group has arranged its ﬁnancing such that approximately 98 of its debt
is also denominated in us dollars so that there is a natural partial offset
between its dollardenominated net assets and earnings and its dollar
denominated debt and interest expense
based upon the level of us operations and of the us dollardenominated
debt balance and us interest rates at 30 april 2007 a 1 change in the us
dollarpound exchange rate would impact our pretax proﬁts by 08 at
30 april 2007 the group had no outstanding foreign exchange contracts
the group’s exposure to exchange rate movements on trading transactions
is relatively limited all group companies invoice revenues in their
respective local currency and generally incur expense and purchase assets 
in their local currency consequently the group does not routinely hedge
either forecast foreign exchange exposures or the impact of exchange rate
movements on the translation of overseas proﬁts into sterling foreign
exchange risk on signiﬁcant nontrading transactions eg acquisitions 
is considered on an individual basis
credit risk management
the group’s principal ﬁnancial assets are cash and bank balances and trade
and other receivables the group’s credit risk is primarily attributable to 
its trade receivables the amounts presented in the balance sheet are net 
of allowances for doubtful receivables the credit risk on liquid funds and
derivative ﬁnancial instruments is limited because the counterparties 
are banks with high credit ratings assigned by international credit rating
agencies the group has no signiﬁcant concentration of credit risk with
exposure spread over a large number of customers
ian robson
finance director
25 june 2007
minimum contracted debt commitments
payments due by year
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 thereafter total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
bank and other debt
1
13 14 13 12 5009 – 5061
finance leases
2
77 57 55 30 01 – 220
8625 senior secured notes
3
––––– 1206 1206
90 senior secured notes
4
––––– 2683 2683
90 71 68 42 5010 3889 9170
cash at bank and in hand 11 ––––– 11
net debt 79 71 68 42 5010 3889 9159
operating leases
5
352 295 214 170 142 1200 2373
total 431 366 282 212 5152 5089 11532
1 represents the scheduled maturities of our bank and other debt for the periods indicated
2 represents the future minimum lease payments under our ﬁnance leases
3 represents the carrying value of the 250m second priority secured notes
4 represents the carrying value of the 550m second priority secured notes
5 represents the minimum payments to which we were committed under operating leases
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 31 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 board of directors 32
board of directors
1
2
3
4
6
7
8
9
5
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 32 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 board of directors 33
1 chris cole
nonexecutive chairman
aged 60 chris cole has been a director since january 2002 and was
appointed as nonexecutive chairman from 1 march 2007 at which time
he stepped down as chairman of the remuneration committee a role
he had performed since september 2003 mr cole is chairman of the
nomination committee and a member of the finance and
administration committee mr cole is chief executive of wsp group plc
executive directors
2 geoff drabble
chief executive 
aged 47 geoff drabble was appointed as chief executive on 1 january
2007 having served as chief executive designate from 2 october 2006
mr drabble was previously an executive director of the laird group plc
where he was responsible for its building products division prior to
joining the laird group mr drabble held a number of senior management
positions at black  decker mr drabble is chairman of the finance and
administration committee and a member of the nomination committee
3 ian robson
finance director
aged 48 ian robson has been finance director since june 2000 prior 
to june 2000 mr robson held a series of senior ﬁnancial positions 
at reuters group plc for four years before joining reuters group plc
mr robson was a partner at price waterhouse now pricewaterhousecoopers
llp mr robson is a member of the finance and administration committee
4 cliff miller
president and chief executive ofﬁcer sunbelt
aged 44 cliff miller was appointed president and chief executive ofﬁcer
of sunbelt and as one of our directors in july 2004 mr miller has more
than 20 years’ experience in the rental industry and joined the group in
1996 with the acquisition of mclean rentals from that time until 2003
he was vice president responsible for sunbelt’s northeastern division
subsequently he was one of two executive vice presidents responsible
for all of sunbelt’s front line operations before assuming his current role
in 2004
5 sat dhaiwal
chief executive ofﬁcer aplant
aged 38 sat dhaiwal has been chief executive ofﬁcer of aplant and a
director since march 2002 mr dhaiwal was managing director of aplant
east one of aplant’s four operational regions from may 1998 to march
2002 before that he was an aplant trading director from 1995 and
prior to 1995 managed one of aplant’s proﬁt centres mr dhaiwal has
some 20 years’ experience in the equipment rental industry
nonexecutive directors
6 hugh etheridge
senior independent nonexecutive director
aged 57 hugh etheridge has been a director chairman of the audit
committee and a member of the remuneration and nomination
committees since january 2004 mr etheridge was appointed as senior
independent nonexecutive director on 1 march 2007 mr etheridge is
chief financial ofﬁcer of the waste and resources action programme
“wrap” a nonproﬁt organisation established by the uk government
to promote sustainable waste management before joining wrap
mr etheridge was finance director of waste recycling group plc and
prior to that of matthew clark plc
7 gary iceton
independent nonexecutive director
aged 57 gary iceton was appointed as a nonexecutive director and 
a member of the audit and nomination committees effective from
1 september 2004 mr iceton also became chairman of the remuneration
committee on 1 march 2007 until 2000 he was a director of st ives plc
and chairman and chief executive of its books division more recently
he was chairman of jarrold limited and prior to that chief executive
ofﬁcer of amertrans
8 michael burrow
independent nonexecutive director
age 54 michael burrow was appointed as a nonexecutive director 
and member of the audit and remuneration committees effective 
from 1 march 2007 mr burrow was formerly managing director of 
the investment banking group of lehman brothers europe limited
9 bruce edwards
independent nonexecutive director
age 52 bruce edwards was appointed as a nonexecutive director on
8 june 2007 mr edwards is the global chief executive ofﬁcer for exel
supply chain at deutsche post world net following its acquisition of
exel plc in december 2005 prior to the acquisition mr edwards was 
a director of exel plc and chief executive of its americas businesses
mr edwards is also a nonexecutive director of greif inc a nyselisted
packaging and container manufacturer he is an american citizen and
lives in columbus ohio
details of the directors’ contracts emoluments and share interests can 
be found in the directors’ remuneration report
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 33 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ report 34
the directors present their report and the audited accounts for the ﬁnancial
year ended 30 april 2007
principal activities
the principal activity of the company is that of an investment holding and
management company the principal activity of the group is the rental of
equipment to industrial and commercial users mainly in the nonresidential
construction sectors in the us and the uk
trading results and dividends
the group’s consolidated loss before taxation for the year was £365m
2006 proﬁt of £817m a review of the group’s performance and future
development including the principal risks and uncertainties facing the
group is given in the business and financial review on pages 14 to 31
these disclosures form part of this report the group paid an interim
dividend of 055p per ordinary share in february and the directors
recommend the payment of a ﬁnal dividend of 11p per ordinary share
to be paid on 28 september 2007 to those shareholders on the register 
at the close of business on 7 september 2007 making a total dividend 
for the year of 165p 2006 15p
share capital and major shareholders
details of the company’s share capital are given in note 18 to the ﬁnancial
statements so far as the company is aware the only holdings of 3 
or more of the issued share capital of the company as at 22 june 2007
the latest practicable date before approval of the ﬁnancial statements 
are as follows

aviva plc 73
barclays bank plc 69
legal and general plc 40
lloyds tsb group plc 34
ubs ag 31
details of directors’ interests in the company’s ordinary share capital and 
in options over that share capital are given in the directors’ remuneration
report on pages 40 to 48 details of all shares subject to option are given
in the notes to the ﬁnancial statements on page 74
directors and directors’ insurance
details of the directors of the company are given on pages 32 and 33
each of the directors as at the date of approval of this report conﬁrms
as required by section 234 of the companies act 1985 that to the best 
of their knowledge and belief
1 there is no signiﬁcant information known to the director relevant 
to the audit of which the company’s auditors are unaware and
2 each director has taken reasonable steps to make himself aware of 
such information and to establish that the company’s auditors are
aware of it
the company has maintained insurance throughout the year to cover all
directors against liabilities in relation to the company and its subsidiary
undertakings
policy on payment of suppliers 
suppliers are paid in accordance with the individual payment terms agreed
with each of them the number of group creditor days at 30 april 2007
was 72 days 30 april 2006 57 days which reﬂects the terms agreed with
individual suppliers there were no trade creditors in the company’s balance
sheet at any time during the past two years
political and charit able donations 
charitable donations in the year amounted to £52839 in total 
2006 £29914 no political donations were made in either year
corporate responsibility
the group is committed to the highest standards of corporate
responsibility it places a high priority on compliance with all legislative and
regulatory requirements and on the maintenance of high ethical standards
across the groupwe seek continually to improve our performance in terms
of employee development and health and safety in particular as without
the highest standards in these areas our business model simply would not
work over the coming year we intend to formalise and coordinate these
individual corporate responsibility initiatives across all our territories and 
to increase the reporting of these at group level
employees
our employees are our greatest asset and we place enormous value on the
welfare and commitment of our employees as well as the superior level of
service they provide for our customers at 30 april 2007 the total number
of employees worldwide was 10077 our employees all beneﬁt from
extensive on the job training schemes and are highly incentivised to deliver
superior standards of work and customer servicewe have taken action
consistently through the year to maintain and develop arrangements aimed
at involving employees in its affairs for example monthly meetings are
held at proﬁt centres to discuss the previous month’s performancewe
pride ourselves on many of our staff remaining with us throughout their
careers something which is increasingly uncommon in the commercial
world a signiﬁcant number of our most senior operational staff started out
at entry level within our proﬁt centres and their continuity of employment
is testament to the group’s focus on employee development throughout
their careerswe are committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all 
our staffwe make every reasonable effort to give disabled applicants
and existing employees becoming disabled opportunities for work training
and career development in keeping with their aptitudes and abilities
health and safety
in all our markets we have extensive programmes to develop and maintain
the highest standards of health and safety for both our employees and our
customers a copy of the relevant formal statement of the group’s policy
on health and safety is on display at proﬁt centres in the uk and the us
we make a considerable annual investment in ensuring that our equipment
meets or exceeds the latest safety standardswe also employ an internal
health and safety audit team to ensure that the correct health and safety
precautions are in place throughout every aspect of our business education
is key to improving safety standards across the industries that we serve
the group is at the forefront of the drive to promote higher standards and
educate our customers and employees about new and improved methods
to ensure a safe operating environment
directors’ report
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 34 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ report 35
safeguarding the environment
the group is committed to minimising any risk or negative impact our
business may have on the environment during the course of its business
the group impacts the environment principally through the disposal of
waste oils lubricants and through fuel emissions as well as through the
disposal of efﬂuent across our territories our operating philosophy involves
a commitment to
•
reduce the quantity of waste we produce and to dispose of it correctly
•
supply and run correctly maintained equipment to reduce both fuel and
noise pollution
•
purchase and supply where possible equipment which is energy and
noise efﬁcient
•
encourage the use of recycled materials where these are ﬁnancially viable
including encouraging suppliers to improve the environmental standards
of their products
•
maximise transport efﬁciency for both environmental and commercial
beneﬁt
•
ensure that our fuel storage facilities both ﬁxed and mobile conform to
relevant guidance to reduce the risk of contamination
•
establish optimal procedures to deal with oil or fuel spillage including
notifying the relevant enforcing authority and 
•
identify and correctly handle potentially hazardous waste material in
accordance with the regulations in each of our territories
we expect to report more fully on our environmental initiatives in next
year’s annual report
customers and suppliers
we set out to apply a “customer first” culture and aim to build partnerships
to enable our customers to do more more effectively over the long term
we try to put our customers’ needs ﬁrst in everything from concept and
planning through to delivery and postcontract and offer a range of
beneﬁts such as our pioneering extranet facility giving qualifying customers
online realtime account trackingwe have a national account
management function in both the us and uk and offer preferred or sole
supplier agreements whereby customers can reduce their equipment
supplier bases with bespoke arrangements that can provide signiﬁcant
savings in time and money as well as enhancing safety in addition we
invest heavily in new equipment selecting only brand leaders as suppliers
building longterm relationships with them to ensure we offer the highest
quality equipment
contributing to the community
the group recognises the importance of giving back to the communities
where we do businesswe have a number of community programmes
across both the us and the uk as well as individual initiatives at a number
of our proﬁt centres
auditors
deloitte  touche llp has indicated its willingness to continue in ofﬁce and
in accordance with section 385 of the companies act 1985 a resolution
concerning its reappointment and authorising the directors to ﬁx its
remuneration will be proposed at the annual general meeting
annual general meeting 
the annual general meeting will be held at 230 pm on tuesday
25 september 2007 notice of the meeting is set out in the document
accompanying this report and accounts in addition to the adoption of the
20067 report and accounts the declaration of a ﬁnal dividend resolutions
dealing with the appointment and reelection of directors and the
resolution dealing with the approval of the directors’ remuneration report
there are four other matters which will be considered at the annual general
meeting these relate to the reappointment of deloitte  touche llp as
auditors the ability for the directors to unconditionally allot shares up to
approximately onethird of the company’s share capital the disapplication
of preemption rights in relation to the previous resolution and
empowering the company to buy back up to 5 of its issued share capital
these resolutions update for a further year similar resolutions approved by
shareholders in previous years
by order of the board 
eric wa tkins
company secretary
25 june 2007
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 35 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 corporate governance report 36
the revised combined code on corporate governance was published in july
2003 by the financial reporting council “the 2003 frc code” following a
review of the role and effectiveness of nonexecutive directors by sir derek
higgs and a review of audit committees by a group led by sir robert smith
the company is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate
governance the board recognises that it is accountable to the company’s
shareholders for corporate governance and this statement describes how
the company has applied the relevant principles of the 2003 frc code
the company complied throughout the year with the provisions of the
2003 frc code on corporate governance except that the composition 
of the board and subcommittees did not comply with the independence
provisions as described below following recent changes to the board it 
and its subcommittees are now in compliance with the frc code 2003
the board 
the company’s board comprises the nonexecutive chairman the chief
executive the ﬁnance director the executive heads of sunbelt and aplant
the senior independent nonexecutive director and three other non
executive directors short biographies of the directors are given on page 33
the chairman undertakes leadership of the board by agreeing board
agendas and encourages its effectiveness by the provision of timely
accurate and clear information on all aspects of the group’s business 
to enable the board to take sound decisions and promote the success 
of the business the chairman assisted by other directors reviews the
effectiveness of each member of the board no less than annually and
facilitates constructive relationships between the executive and non
executive directors through both formal and informal meetings
the chairman ensures that all directors are briefed properly to enable them
to discharge their duties effectively all newly appointed directors undertake
an induction to all parts of the group’s business additionally detailed
management accounts are sent monthly to all board members and in
advance of all board meetings an agenda and appropriate documentation
in respect of each item to be discussed is circulated
the chairman facilitates effective communication with shareholders
through both the annual general meeting and by individual meetings 
with major shareholders to develop an understanding of the views of the
investors in the business he also ensures that shareholders have access 
to other directors including nonexecutive directors as appropriate
the chief executive’s role is to provide entrepreneurial leadership of the
group within a framework of prudent and effective controls which enables
risk to be assessed and managed the chief executive undertakes the
leadership and responsibility for the direction and management of the day
today business and conduct of the group in doing so the chief executive’s 
role includes but is not restricted to implementing board decisions
delegating responsibility and reporting to the board regarding the conduct
activities and performance of the group the chief executive chairs the
sunbelt aplant and ashtead technology board meetings and sets policies
and direction to maximise returns to shareholders
all directors are responsible under the law for the proper conduct of the
company’s affairs the directors are also responsible for ensuring that the
strategies proposed by the executive directors are discussed in detail and
assessed critically to ensure they conform with the longterm interests of
shareholders and are compatible with the interests of employees
customers and suppliers the board has reserved to itself those matters
which reinforce its control of the company these include treasury policy
acquisitions and disposals appointment and removal of directors or the
company secretary appointment and removal of the auditors and approval
of the annual accounts
regular reports and brieﬁngs are provided to the board by the executive
directors and the company secretary to ensure the directors are suitably
briefed to fulﬁl their roles the board normally meets six times a year and
there is contact between meetings to advance the company’s activities
it is the board’s usual practice to meet at least annually at the ofﬁces of
sunbelt and aplant the directors also have access to the company
secretary and are able to seek independent advice at the company’s
expense
the board’s terms of reference are available for inspection at the annual
general meeting
all directors are subject to election by shareholders at the ﬁrst annual
general meeting after their appointment and to reelection thereafter 
at intervals of no more than three years nonexecutive directors are
appointed for speciﬁed terms not exceeding three years and are subject to
reelection and the provision of the companies act relating to the removal
of a director
in accordance with the company’s articles of association mr dhaiwal
mr etheridge and mr iceton will offer themselves for retirement and
reelection to the board at the next annual general meeting as this will 
be the ﬁrst annual general meeting since their appointment to the board
mr burrow and mr edwards will also offer themselves for election
new chief executive
mr drabble’s selection as the group’s new chief executive was announced
in june 2006 prior to his appointment the nomination committee led an
extensive search considering both internal and external candidates for the
role in the light of mr burnett’s decision to retire at the end of december
2006 this search was supported by an external search ﬁrm and resulted in
the conclusion that mr drabble was the candidate best suited for the position
corporate governance report
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 36 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 corporate governance report 37
nonexecutive directors 
during the last year the composition of the board did not comply with 
the requirement of the frc code that at least half the board excluding 
the chairman should comprise independent nonexecutive directors
in addition for a short period following his appointment as chairman
and whilst he was interim chairman mr cole was a member of the
remuneration and audit committees following the retirement as a
director of mr lovegrove on 30 april 2007 and the appointment of
mr edwards as a director on 8 june 2007 the board and subcommittee
composition is in compliance with the frc code 2003
in the recruitment of nonexecutive directors it is the group’s practice to
utilise the services of an external search consultancy and this was the case
with the selection of mr burrow and mr edwards who were engaged
following an extensive search for individuals with relevant ﬁnancial and
operational experience
an external search consultancy was not however used in the recruitment
of the chairman following the untimely death of the group’s previous
chairman the board accepted the recommendation of the nomination
committee that chris cole the group’s senior independent nonexecutive
director since september 2003 be appointed as interim chairman with
effect from october 2006 after giving the matter due consideration and
having worked with mr cole in his capacity as nonexecutive director since
january 2002 and latterly as interim chairman the board took the view
that considering mr cole’s longterm knowledge of the group’s business
and his experience as chief executive of an international plc he had both
the knowledge and breadth of experience required to fulﬁl the role as
group chairman having satisﬁed itself that mr cole could devote the
requisite time to the role of chairman the board supported by the
nomination committee concluded that no advantage would be gained 
by utilising the services of an external search agency in searching for other
candidates with this experience and instead determined to appoint mr cole
as chairman
before appointment nonexecutive directors are required to assure the
board that they can give the time commitment necessary to fulﬁl properly
their duties both in terms of availability to attend meetings and discuss
matters on the telephone and meeting preparation time the non
executives’ letters of appointment are available for inspection at the 
annual general meeting
the nonexecutive directors including the chairman meet as and when
required in the absence of the executive directors to discuss and appraise
the performance of the board as a whole and the performance of the
executive directors in accordance with the frc code the nonexecutive
directors led by the senior independent nonexecutive director also 
meet annually in the absence of the chairman to discuss and appraise 
his performance
performance evaluation
the performance of the chairman the chief executive the board and 
its committees is evaluated amongst other things against their respective
role proﬁles and terms of reference the executive directors are evaluated
additionally against the agreed budget for the generation of revenue proﬁt
and value to shareholders
the evaluation of the chairman the board and its committees was
conducted by way of a questionnaire completed by all of the directors
the results of which were collated by the company secretary and 
presented to the entire board based on this evaluation the board
concluded that performance in the past year had been satisfactory
board committees
audit committee
the audit committee comprises mr etheridge chairman mr iceton and 
mr burrow who was appointed on 1 march 2007 in accordance with the
recommendation of the smith committee the company’s nonexecutive
chairman mr cole is not a member of the audit committee and stepped
down from the committee following his appointment as chairman by
invitation the group’s ﬁnance director mr robson and its director of
ﬁnancial reporting mr pratt normally attend the committee’s meetings
as do representatives of our internal and external auditors other directors
are usually also invited to be present if available
as is required by its terms of reference the audit committee meets on 
at least four occasions each year to review the draft quarterly and annual
ﬁnancial statements prior to their publication to consider the key
accounting estimates and judgements contained therein and to consider
reports from both the internal and external auditors which include audit
plans and the key ﬁndings of their work the audit committee also keeps
the group’s accounting policies under review evaluates the effectiveness 
of the group’s internal controls and ﬁnancial reporting policies and is
responsible for dealing with any matter brought to its attention by the
auditors the audit committee also keeps under review the effectiveness of
both internal and external audit as well as the independence of the external
auditors including the type of and associated fees for nonaudit services
the principal nonaudit fees paid to the company’s auditors deloitte 
touche llp for the year relate to their work in connection with the
nationsrent and lux acquisitions the audit committee is satisﬁed that 
the nature of work undertaken and the level of nonaudit fees did not
impair their independence
the audit committee’s terms of reference which were reviewed during 
the year are available for inspection at the annual general meeting
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 37 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 corporate governance report 38
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee comprises mr iceton chairman from
1 march 2007 mr etheridge and mr burrow
the remuneration committee meets as and when required during the year
to set the compensation packages for the executive directors to establish
the terms and conditions of the executive directors’ employment and to set
remuneration policy generally mr cole and mr drabble normally attend the
meetings of the committee to assist it in its work the committee also
engages remuneration consultants to advise it in its work as and when required
none of the members of the remuneration committee is currently or 
has been at any time one of the company’s executive directors or an
employee none of the executive directors currently serves or has served
as a member of the board of directors of any other company which has
one or more of its executive directors serving on the company’s board or
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee’s terms of reference are available for
inspection at the annual general meeting
nomination committee
the current members of the nomination committee are mr cole
chairman mr drabble mr etheridge mr iceton and mr burrow appointed
on 1 march 2007 the nomination committee meets as and when
required to recommend proposed changes to the structure and
composition of the board of directors mr stenham was also a member
until his death in october and mr burnett and mr lovegrove were members
until their respective retirements
the nomination committee’s terms of reference are available for
inspection at the annual general meeting
attendance at board and committee meetings held between 1 may 2006
and 30 april 2007
board audit remuneration nomination
number of meetings held6424
mr cole
1
6324
mr stenham
2
3–– 2
mr burnett
3
5–– 3
mr dhaiwal 6 – – –
mr drabble
4
6– 1 3
mr miller 5 – – –
mr robson 6 – – –
mr burrow
5
11 –1
mr etheridge 6424
mr iceton 6423
mr lovegrove 6 – – 3
1 mr cole stepped down from the audit committee on 1 march 2007
2 mr stenham died on 22 october 2006
3 mr burnett retired from the company on 31 december 2006
4 mr drabble stepped down from the remuneration committee on 2 october 2006
5 mr burrow was appointed as nonexecutive director from 1 march 2007
finance and administration committee
the finance and administration committee comprises mr cole mr drabble
and mr robson and is chaired by mr drabble mr cole replaced mr stenham
on this committee on the latter’s death the board of directors has
delegated authority to this committee to deal with routine ﬁnancial and
administrative matters between board meetings the committee meets as
necessary to perform its role and has a quorum requirement of two
members with certain matters requiring the presence of mr cole non
executive chairman including for example the approval of material
announcements to the london stock exchange
internal control 
the directors acknowledge their responsibility for the group’s system of
internal control and conﬁrm they have reviewed its effectiveness in doing
so the group has taken note of the guidance for directors on internal
control internal control guidance for directors on the combined code
the turnbull guidance
the board conﬁrms that there is a process for identifying evaluating and
managing signiﬁcant risks faced by the group this process has been in
place for the full ﬁnancial year and is ongoing it is kept under regular
review by the executive directors and is considered periodically by the
board and accords with the turnbull guidance
the board considers that the group’s internal control system is designed
appropriately to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve
business objectives any such control system however can only provide
reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss
the group reviews the risks it faces in its business and how these risks 
are managed these reviews are conducted in conjunction with the
management teams of each of the group’s businesses and are documented
in an annual report the reviews consider whether any matters have arisen
since the last report was prepared which might indicate omissions or
inadequacies in that assessment they also consider whether as a result of
changes in either the internal or external environment any new signiﬁcant
risks have arisen the executive directors reviewed the draft report for 2007
which was then presented to discussed and approved by the audit
committee on 8 may 2007 and then by the group board on 17 may 2007
before producing the statement on internal control for the annual report
and accounts for the year ended 30 april 2007 the board reconsidered the
operational effectiveness of the group’s internal control systems in
particular through the audit committee it received reports from the
operational audit teams and considered the status of implementation of
internal control improvement recommendations made by the group’s
internal auditors and its external auditors the control system includes
written policies and control procedures clearly drawn lines of accountability
and delegation of authority and comprehensive reporting and analysis
against budgets and latest forecasts
corporate governance report
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 38 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 corporate governance report 39
in a group of the size complexity and geographical diversity of ashtead
minor breakdowns in established control procedures can occur there are
supporting policies and procedures for investigation and management of
control breakdowns at any of the group’s proﬁt centres or elsewhere the
audit committee also meets regularly with the external auditors to discuss
their work
in relation to internal ﬁnancial control the group’s control and monitoring
procedures include
•
the maintenance and production of accurate and timely ﬁnancial
management information including a monthly proﬁt and loss account
and selected balance sheet data for each proﬁt centre
•
the control of key ﬁnancial risks through clearly laid down authority
levels and proper segregation of accounting duties at the group’s
accounting support centres
•
the preparation of a monthly ﬁnancial report to the board including
income statements for the group and each subsidiary balance sheet 
and cash ﬂow statement
•
the preparation of an annual budget and periodic update forecasts 
which are reviewed by the executive directors and then by the board
•
a programme of rental equipment inventories and full inventory counts
conducted at each proﬁt centre by equipment type independently
checked on a sample basis by our operational auditors and external
auditors
•
detailed internal audits at the group’s major accounting centres
undertaken by internal audit specialists from a major international
accounting ﬁrm
•
comprehensive audits at the proﬁt centres generally carried out annually
by internal operational audit a summary of this work is provided
annually to the audit committee and
•
a review of arrangements by which staff may in conﬁdence raise
concerns about possible improprieties in matters of ﬁnancial reporting 
or other matters
statement of directors’ responsibilities
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the
ﬁnancial statements the directors are required to prepare ﬁnancial
statements for the group in accordance with international financial
reporting standards ifrs as adopted by the european union and have
also elected to prepare ﬁnancial statements for the company in accordance
with ifrs company law requires the directors to prepare such ﬁnancial
statements in accordance with ifrs the companies act 1985 and article 4
of the ias regulations
ias 1 presentation of financial statements requires that ﬁnancial
statements present fairly for each ﬁnancial year the company’s ﬁnancial
position ﬁnancial performance and cash ﬂows this requires the
representation of the effects of transactions other events and conditions in
accordance with the deﬁnitions and recognition criteria for assets liabilities
income and expenses set out in the international accounting standards
board’s framework for the preparation and presentation of financial 
statements in virtually all circumstances a fair presentation will be
achieved by compliance with all applicable international financial reporting
standards directors are also required to
•
properly select and apply accounting policies
•
present information including accounting policies in a manner that
provides relevant reliable comparable and understandable information
and
•
provide additional disclosures when compliance with the speciﬁc
requirements in ifrs is insufﬁcient to enable users to understand the
impact of particular transactions other events and conditions on the
entity’s ﬁnancial position and ﬁnancial performance
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which
disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁnancial position of 
the company for safeguarding the assets for taking reasonable steps for
the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities and for the
preparation of a directors’ report and directors’ remuneration report which
comply with the requirements of the companies act 1985
legislation in the uk governing the preparation and dissemination of
ﬁnancial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions
going concern
after making appropriate enquiries the directors have a reasonable
expectation that the company and the group have adequate resources 
to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and that 
it is therefore appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing 
the ﬁnancial statements in forming this view the directors have reviewed
the group’s budgets and cash ﬂow forecasts for a period of more than
12 months from the date of the approval of these ﬁnancial statements 
and considered the sufﬁciency of the group’s banking facilities described 
on pages 30 and 31 of the business and financial review
by order of the board
eric wa tkins
company secretary
25 june 2007
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 39 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 40
introduction
this report has been prepared in accordance with the directors’
remuneration report regulations 2002 the report also meets the relevant
requirements of the listing rules of the financial services authority and
describes how the board has applied the principles of good governance
relating to directors’ remuneration as required by the regulations a
resolution to approve the report will be proposed at the forthcoming
annual general meeting of the company
the regulations require the auditors to report to the company’s members
on the “auditable part” of the directors’ remuneration report and to state
whether in their opinion that part of the report has been properly prepared
in accordance with the companies act 1985 as amended by the
regulations the report has therefore been divided into separate sections
for audited and unaudited information
unaudited information
remuneration committee
the company has established a remuneration committee “the committee”
in accordance with the recommendations of the combined code the
members of the committee are mr iceton chairman mr etheridge and
mr burrow none of the committee members has any personal ﬁnancial
interests other than as shareholders in the matters to be decided
the group’s chief executive mr drabble normally attends the meetings of
the committee to advise on operational aspects of the implementation of
existing policies and policy proposals except where his own remuneration 
is concerned as does the nonexecutive chairman mr cole the company
secretary acts as secretary to the committee under mr iceton’s direction
the company secretary and mr drabble have responsibility for ensuring the
committee has the information relevant to its deliberations in formulating
its policies the committee has access to professional advice from outside
the company as required and to publicly available reports and statistics
external professional advice was obtained in the year from the zygos
partnership who assisted also in the recruitment of nonexecutive directors
remuneration policy for executive directors
executive remuneration packages are designed to attract motivate and
retain directors of the high calibre needed to achieve the group’s objectives
and to reward them for enhancing value to shareholders the main
elements of the remuneration package for executive directors and senior
management are
•
basic annual salary and beneﬁts in kind
•
annual performance related bonus plan
•
share related incentives and
•
pension arrangements
in assessing all aspects of pay and beneﬁts the company compares
packages offered by similar companies which are chosen having regard to
•
the size of the company revenues proﬁts and number of people
employed
•
the diversity and complexity of its businesses
•
the geographical spread of its businesses and 
•
their growth expansion and change proﬁle
in making the comparisons the company takes into consideration also 
the group’s signiﬁcant operations in the us where the company has a
number of large successful competitors who compete with it for top
management talent
the committee implements its remuneration policies by the design of
reward packages for executive directors comprising the appropriate mix of
salary performance related annual cash incentive bonuses and share related
incentives none of the executive directors holds any outside appointments
basic salary
an executive director’s basic salary is normally determined by the
committee before the start of the year and when an individual changes
position or responsibility in deciding appropriate levels the committee
considers the group as a whole and seeks to be competitive but fair
using information drawn from both internal and external sources
annual performance related bonus plan
under the annual performance related bonus plan for executive directors
payments for the year to 30 april 2007 were related directly to ﬁnancial
and personal performance targets and were subject to a cap of 150 of
salary for mr burnett mr drabble mr robson and mr miller and 100 of
salary for mr dhaiwal the committee establishes the objectives that must
be met for each ﬁnancial year if a cash incentive bonus for that year is 
to be paid in determining bonus parameters the committee’s objective 
is to set targets that reﬂect appropriately challenging ﬁnancial performance
measures
for the year ended 30 april 2007 the targets relating to mr burnett and 
mr dhaiwal were met in full and accordingly they received 100 of their
maximum bonus entitlements the targets for mr drabble mr robson and
mr miller were met in part and accordingly they received 73 73 and
67 of their maximum bonuses respectively
directors’ remuneration report
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 40 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 41
share related incentives
details of the company’s existing arrangements are set out below
previous plans
executive share option schemes
until 2002 it was the committee’s policy to make regular awards under
the company’s executive share option plans to senior staff the value of 
the shares underlying the options awarded was assessed by reference to 
a number of factors including the employee’s salary seniority and length 
of service as well as both the company’s and the individual’s performance
in the year prior to the award this plan lapsed in october 2006
investment incentive plan
the investment incentive plan is a longterm incentive plan which provided
for senior management who so elected to invest all or a portion of their
annual cash bonuses in shares of the company and thus become eligible
for matching awards in the form of shares which only vest subject to
demanding performance conditions the company did not make any awards
under this plan in 20056 or 20067 the company does not intend to
make any further awards under this plan
matching awards were made in respect of investment shares acquired by
participants with all or part of their bonus for the previous ﬁnancial year
the matching awards only vest in whole or part based on annual growth in
the company’s earnings per share “eps” in the three year period following
the award over that of the year ended 30 april immediately prior to the
date of the award and on the company’s total shareholder return “tsr”
performance relative to a comparator group in respect of the remaining
available matching awards the relevant performance period is the three
years from 19 august 2004 when the share price was 485p to 18 august
2007 the comparator group comprises all of the ftse 250 midcap stocks
other than investment trusts
the above performance conditions were chosen because they were felt to
align most closely the interests of senior management with the interests of
shareholders by rewarding management for achieving superior relative total
shareholder return performance compared with the ftse 250 as a whole
excluding investment trusts at the time the awards were made the ftse
250 was considered to be the stock exchange index most appropriate to
the size and scale of the company’s operations
vesting of the matching awards is based on the following required
performance grid
vesting operates on a scaled basis for performance between the target
levels shown in the grid above performance is measured at the end of the
three year performance period when the awards either vest in full or part or
lapse completely for performance measurement purposes earnings per share
is based on the proﬁt before exceptional items measured under consistently
applied accounting policies and using a 30 standardised tax rate
current plan
performance share plan
the performance share plan is a longterm incentive plan under which
executive directors and other members of the senior management team
may annually receive a conditional right to acquire shares “performance
shares” the vesting of which depends on the satisfaction of demanding
performance conditions
the maximum award of performance shares that may be made in any
ﬁnancial year of the company is limited under the rules of the plan to
shares with a market value equal to 100 of the participant’s base salary
at the time the award is made
the extent to which the 2004 and 2005 awards vest depends as to 50 
of the award on growth in eps over the three year vesting period which runs
for the awards granted in 2004 for the three years ending 30 april 2007
and for the awards granted in 2005 for the three years ending 30 april 2008
63rd 75th
below median tsr median percentile percentile
20 x 25 x 30 x
10 x match match match match
15 x 20 x 25 x
075 x match match match match
10 x 15 x 20 x
05 x match match match match
no matching award vests
tsr performance against peer group
real eps 
growth
performance
upper range
rpi  7 pa
target range
rpi  5 pa
minimum range
rpi  3 pa
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 41 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 42
for the 2004 award 50 of the award for eps growth vests in full if eps 
for 20067 is 8p or greater and lapses if eps is 5p or lower eps for the year
ended 30 april 2007 has exceeded the upper threshold consequently the
50 element of the 2004 awards relating to eps growth will vest in full
the equivalent thresholds for the 2005 award in the 20078 year are 91p
and 77p awards are scaled for performance between these points eps for
this purpose is calculated on the group’s proﬁt before exceptional items
less a standardised 30 tax charge the eps targets noted above have not
yet been adjusted by the committee to reﬂect the impact of the group’s
subsequent application of international financial reporting standards but
this will be considered by the committee at the time the awards mature
the vesting of the other 50 of the awards is dependent upon the
company’s tsr performance over the three years commencing on award
date 5 october 2004 for the 2004 awards and 16 august 2005 for the
2005 awards against the relevant index for the 2004 awards this was the
ftse smallcap index excluding investment trusts whilst for the 2005
awards it was the constituents of the ftse 250 index excluding
investment trusts
the part of each award linked to tsr vests in full if the company’s tsr
growth over the three year vesting period ranks it in the top 25 of
participants in the relevant index and will lapse if the company’s relative
tsr growth is ranked at or below 50 of participants in the relevant index
over the three year vesting period if relative tsr performance is between
these points the tsr linked part of the award is scaled on a pro rata basis
source datastream
the extent to which the 2006 awards vest depends entirely on the growth 
in eps over the three year vesting period which runs for the three years
ending 30 april 2009 for the 2006 award the award vests in full if eps 
for 20089 is 19p or greater and lapses if eps is 168p or lower awards 
are scaled for performance between these points eps for this purpose 
is calculated on the group’s proﬁt before exceptional items less a
standardised 30 tax charge
employee share ownership trust
the group has established an employee share ownership trust esot 
to hold shares in the company to satisfy potential awards under the
investment incentive plan and the performance share plan at 30 april
2007 the esot held a beneﬁcial interest in 8290747 shares the esot
owned directly 4932329 of these shares and a further 3358418 shares
were registered in the name of investment incentive plan or performance
share plan participants on terms which require that the award shares are
transferred back to the esot to the extent that the performance targets
are not met
relative performance
the following graph compares the company’s tsr performance with the
ftse 250 index excluding investment trusts over the ﬁve years ended
30 april 2007 the stock exchange index the committee considers to be
the most appropriate to the size and scale of the company’s operations
directors’ remuneration report
continued
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
apr 02
apr 03
apr 04
apr 05
apr 06
apr 07
total return index
ashtead group
ftse 250
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 42 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 43
directors’ pension arrangements
the company makes a payment of 40 of his base salary to mr drabble 
in lieu of providing him with any pension arrangements
under the terms of his contract mr robson is entitled to retire at age 60
on a pension equal to onethirtieth of his ﬁnal salary for each year of
pensionable service he is a member of the company’s retirement beneﬁts
plan which is a deﬁned beneﬁts scheme following the change in pension
plan and inland revenue regulations effective 6 april 2006 the company
has agreed with the trustees of the retirement beneﬁts plan that the
retirement beneﬁts plan is responsible for mr robson’s entire pension part
of which was previously provided by the company mr robson’s contract
also contains early retirement provisions allowing him to retire and draw a
pension based on actual years of service but without deduction for early
payment which take effect once he has completed 10 years service with
the company or at anytime after age 50 if there is a change of control
mr robson pays contributions equal to 75 of his salary to the
retirements beneﬁts plan
mr dhaiwal’s pension beneﬁts are also provided entirely through the
ashtead group plc retirement beneﬁts plan his pension rights accrue at
the rate of onesixtieth of salary as deﬁned for each year of pensionable
service and his normal retirement date is at age 65 mr dhaiwal also pays
contributions equal to 75 of his salary to the retirement beneﬁts plan
the retirement beneﬁts plan also provides that
•
in the event of death in service or death between leaving service and
retirement while retaining membership of the plan a spouse’s pension
equal to 50 of the member’s deferred pension calculated at the date 
of death plus a return of his contributions
•
in the event of death in retirement a spouse’s pension equal to 50 
of the member’s pension at the date of death
•
an option to retire at any time after age 50 with the company’s consent
early retirement beneﬁts are reduced by an amount agreed between the
actuary and the trustees as reﬂecting the cost to the plan of the early
retirement in 2010 government regulations raise the minimum early
retirement age to 55 and
•
pension increases in line with the increase in retail price inﬂation up 
to a limit of currently 5 a year in respect of service since 1997
in february 2006 mr miller ceased contributing to sunbelt’s 401k deﬁned
contribution pension plan and joined sunbelt’s deferred compensation plan
under the deferred compensation plan mr miller has elected to defer 6 of
his annual salary and a proportion of his annual performance bonus which
is retained by sunbelt in an account designated for his beneﬁt to be paid to
him on retirement sunbelt provides a comatch at the rate of 1 for every
1 deferred up to 12500 per annum and mr miller’s deferred salary
account is also credited annually with an “investment return” equivalent 
to that earned by members of sunbelt’s 401k pension plan
executive directors’ service agreements
the service agreements between the company and mr drabble dated 
6 july 2006 mr robson dated 4 august 2000 mr dhaiwal dated 8 july
2002 and mr miller dated 5 july 2004 are terminable by either party
giving the other 12 months’ notice the service agreements for each of the
executive directors all contain noncompete provisions appropriate to their
roles in the group
following his retirement on 31 december 2006 and in the light of the
death of mr stenham during the year arrangements were made with 
mr burnett for him to be available to the company as reasonably required
until 31 december 2007 he will receive £70000 under these consultancy
arrangements
remuneration policy for nonexecutive directors
the remuneration of the nonexecutive directors is determined by the
board within limits set out in the articles of association none of the 
nonexecutive directors has a service contract with the company and 
their appointment is therefore terminable by the board at any time
an ordinary resolution concerning the group’s remuneration policies 
will be put to shareholders at the forthcoming annual general meeting
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  1108 am  page 43 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 44
audited information
directors’ emoluments
the emoluments of the directors excluding pension beneﬁts which are included in staff costs in note 3 to the ﬁnancial statements were as follows
performance beneﬁts total total
related in other emoluments emoluments
salary fees bonus kind
i
allowances
ii
2007 2006
name £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
executive
gb burnett 285 – 428 1 9 723 870
ss dhaiwal 200 – 200 1 8 409 287
g drabble 239 13 438 15 130 835 27
c miller 262 – 262 7 26 557 505
si robson 300 – 330 1 11 642 570
nonexecutive
awp stenham – 70 – – 8 78 148
c cole – 67––– 67 33
m burrow – 6 – – – 6 –
hc etheridge – 39––– 39 32
gi iceton – 33––– 33 27
pa lovegrove – 32––– 32 27
1286 260 1658 25 192 3421 2526
2006 1105 279 1061 7 74 2526
i beneﬁts in kind comprise the taxable beneﬁt of company owned cars private medical insurance and subscriptions
ii other allowances include car allowances a contribution to mr stenham’s ofﬁce costs reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs for mr miller who continues to reside in virginia but is based at
sunbelt’s head ofﬁce in charlotte and the payment of 40 of salary in lieu of pension contributions and a contribution to relocation costs for mr drabble
upon commencement of his employment with the company mr drabble was awarded 378000 ashtead ordinary shares to compensate him for his
foregone option arrangements with his previous employer these shares were awarded to him in october 2006 when the market price was 1456p and 
the value of the shares awarded was £550000 mr drabble sold 182683 of these shares at a market price of 14275p on 8 november 2006 to fund the
income tax and national insurance due on the share award
as part of his joining arrangements it was agreed that mr drabble would also receive an additional bonus payment of £175000 to compensate him 
for the loss of his accrued bonus with his previous employer payable concurrently with his 20067 bonus consequently the bonus of £438000 shown 
in the table above for mr drabble comprises his regular earned bonus for the year to 30 april 2007 of 110 of salary £263000 plus the special bonus 
of £175000
key management 
in accordance with ias 24 related party disclosures key management personnel are those persons having authority and responsibility for planning directing
and controlling the activities of the group directly or indirectlythe group’s key management comprise the company’s executive and nonexecutive directors
compensation for key management was as follows
2007 2006
£’000 £’000
salaries and shortterm employee beneﬁts 3421 2526
postemployment beneﬁts 56 45
national insurance and social security 382 214
sharebased payments 1176 400
5035 3185
directors’ remuneration report
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 44 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 45
directors’ pension beneﬁts
increase in annual
transfer transfer
accrued accrued
pension during the year
value of value increase
pensionable contributions annual accrued of accrued in transfer
age at service at paid by the pension at excluding total pension at pension at value over
30 april 2007 30 april 2007 director 30 april 2007 inﬂation increase 30 april 2007 30 april 2006 the year
years years £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
ss dhaiwal 38 13 15 38 5 6 199 155 29
si robson 48 7 22 66 15 17 831 579 230
notes
1 the transfer values represent the amount which would have been paid to another pension scheme had the director elected to take a transfer of his accrued pension entitlement at that date and have
been calculated by the scheme’s actuaries in accordance with actuarial guidance note gn11 published by the institute of actuaries and the faculty of actuaries they are not sums paid or due to the
directors concerned
2 the increase in transfer value in the year is stated net of the members’ contributions
in the year to 30 april 2007 mr miller deferred 30000 of his annual salary and 100000 of his 20056 bonus in the sunbelt deferred compensation plan
and consequently sunbelt allocated 12500 by way of its comatch contribution at 30 april 2007 mr miller’s account was also credited with the annual
investment return of 32769 at 30 april 2007 the total gross amount deferred relating to mr miller in the plan including allocated investment return was
191784 or £95897
directors’ interests in shares
the directors of the company are shown below together with their beneﬁcial interests in the share capital of the company excluding interests in shares held
subject to forfeiture if performance conditions under the company’s investment incentive plan and performance share plan are not achieved – see below
30 april 2007 30 april 2006
number of number of
ordinary ordinary
shares of shares of 
10p each 10p each
m burrow – –
c cole 42082 23333
ss dhaiwal 174512 48393
g drabble 211357 11666
hc etheridge – –
g iceton 39082 23333
c miller 254559 33000
si robson 591250 430000
 or date of appointment for mr burrow
the directors had no nonbeneﬁcial interests in the share capital of the company
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 45 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 46
investment incentive plan and performance share plan awards
conditional awards of matching shares under the iip and of shares under the psp held by executive directors are shown in the table below
iip psp
held at 30 april held at 30 april
2007 2006 2007 2006
g burnett – granted in 20045 193570 178554 329803 304219
– granted in 20056 – – 286164 263965
ss dhaiwal – granted in 20045 55305 51015 145192 133929
– granted in 20056 – – 120349 111013
– granted in 20067 – – 90468 na
g drabble – granted in 20067 – – 264943 na
c miller – granted in 20045 – – 190144 175394
– granted in 20056 – – 155198 143159
– granted in 20067 – – 174047 na
si robson – granted in 20045 221227 204066 200364 184821
– granted in 20056 – – 173837 160352
– granted in 20067 – – 193861 na
 or date of retirement for mr burnett
the company’s employee share option trust has conditionally transferred shares to mr burnett mr dhaiwal mr drabble and mr robson in respect of
substantially all of the options awarded to them under the company’s investment incentive plan and the performance share plan on conditions under
which the shares are automatically returned to the trust in the event that the performance conditions underlying the awards are not achieved
following the £152m equity rights issue in august 2006 the interests of all participants in the company’s sharebased remuneration plans were adjusted
on a neutral basis for the dilutive effect of the rights issue this involved uplifting the outstanding awards and option grants by 841 and where
applicable reducing the exercise price by 776 to ensure the option holders maintained the same economic interest in the company
following mr burnett’s retirement on 31 december 2006 the committee determined that in accordance with the rules of the plans mr burnett’s iip and
psp awards should be released to him as he was a “good” leaver and this has occurred subsequently
directors’ remuneration report
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 46 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 47
directors’ interests in share options
granted earliest
options at exercised options at normal
1 may rights during 30 april exercise exercise
2006 issue year 2007 price date expiry
discretionary schemes
gb burnett 200000 16810 216810 – 12200p feb 2000 feb 2007
350000 29418 – 379418 16992p feb 2001 feb 2008
166700 14011 – 180711 15912p feb 2002 feb 2009
300000 25216 – 325216 9455p aug 2003 aug 2010
90000 7564 – 97564 11531p feb 2004 feb 2011
ss dhaiwal 40000 3362 43362 – 12200p feb 2000 feb 2007
32500 2731 – 35231 16992p feb 2001 feb 2008
50000 4202 – 54202 15912p feb 2002 feb 2009
35000 2941 – 37941 11531p feb 2004 feb 2011
28000 2353 30353 – 3828p feb 2005 feb 2012
150000 12608 162608 – 4566p aug 2005 aug 2012
c miller 30000 2521 32521 – 12200p feb 2000 feb 2007
24000 2017 – 26017 16992p feb 2001 feb 2008
13350 1122 – 14472 15912p feb 2002 feb 2009
50000 4202 54202 – 9409p feb 2003 feb 2010
35000 2941 37941 – 9455p aug 2003 aug 2010
50000 4202 54202 – 11531p feb 2004 feb 2011
100000 – 100000 – 4150p feb 2005 feb 2012
si robson 29500 2479 – 31979 9379p aug 2003 aug 2010
195500 16432 – 211932 9455p aug 2003 aug 2010
230000 19332 – 249332 11531p feb 2004 feb 2011
300000 25216 – 325216 3828p feb 2005 feb 2012
saye scheme
gb burnett 24029 – 24029 – 2427p may 2006 oct 2006
10792 907 – 11699 2836p oct 2007 mar 2008
ss dhaiwal 24029 – 24029 – 2427p may 2006 oct 2006
10792 907 – 11699 2836p oct 2007 mar 2008
– – 4960 4960 12213p sept 2009 feb 2010
si robson 40049 3368 – 43417 2239p may 2008 oct 2008
10792 907 – 11699 2836p oct 2007 mar 2008
 or date of retirement for mr burnett who has 12 months from the date of retirement to exercise options under the discretionary schemes and six months under the saye scheme
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 47 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 directors’ remuneration report 48
details of share options exercised by the executive directors in the year are as follows
number market price at
exercised option price date of exercise gain
p p £’000
executive share options
gb burnett 216810 12200 17150 107
ss dhaiwal 43362 12200 15325 13
30353 3828 15325 35
162608 4566 15325 175
236323 223
c miller 32521 12200 17800 18
54202 9409 17800 45
37941 9455 17800 32
54202 11531 17800 34
100000 4150 14075 99
278866 228
saye scheme
gb burnett 24029 2427 20000 42
ss dhaiwal 24029 2427 20000 42
note
1 on 14 december 2006 mr dhaiwal exercised his rights in respect of 236323 share options of which 161391 were sold and the balance of 74932 shares was retained by mr dhaiwal
2 on 1 august 2006 mr miller exercised his rights in respect of 100000 share options and retained the shares on 2 february 2007 mr miller exercised his rights in respect of 178866 share options of
which 107182 were sold to meet the exercise costs and commission charges in respect of the exercise the balance of 71684 shares was retained by mr miller
exercise of certain of the above listed discretionary option awards were subject to performance conditions when originally granted all of which have been
met subsequently the market price of the company’s shares at the end of the ﬁnancial year was 155p and the highest and lowest closing prices during
the ﬁnancial year were 222p adjusted for the rights issue and 112p respectively
mr dhaiwal also holds 54202 units in the company’s cash incentive scheme which were granted to him on 22 february 2000 when he was not a
director the performance criteria related to this award have been satisﬁed and accordingly mr dhaiwal may exercise the award in whole or in part at any
time prior to 22 february 2010when the award is exercised mr dhaiwal will be paid in cash an amount equal to the difference between the mid market
price of ashtead group plc shares on the day of exercise and 9409p multiplied by the number of units exercised the resultant sum will be paid to mr
dhaiwal in cash less applicable taxes
this report has been approved by the remuneration committee and is signed on its behalf by
gary iceton
chairman remuneration committee
25 june 2007
directors’ remuneration report
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 48 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 independent auditors’ report 49
we have audited the group and individual company ﬁnancial statements the
“ﬁnancial statements” of ashtead group plc for the year ended 30 april 2007
which comprise the consolidated income statement the consolidated and
company balance sheets the consolidated and company cash flow
statements the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense and
the related notes 1 to 28these ﬁnancial statements have been prepared under
the accounting policies set out thereinwe have also audited the information
in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in
accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our audit work
has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members
those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and
for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not
accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and 
the company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or 
for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report the directors’
remuneration report and the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with applicable
law and international financial reporting standards ifrss as adopted by
the european union are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the ﬁnancial statements and the part of the
directors’ remuneration report to be audited in accordance with relevant
legal and regulatory requirements and international standards on auditing
uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the ﬁnancial statements give 
a true and fair view and whether the ﬁnancial statements and the part 
of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and as regards the
group ﬁnancial statements article 4 of the ias regulationwe also report
to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’
report is consistent with the ﬁnancial statements the information given 
in the directors’ report includes that speciﬁc information presented in 
the business and financial review that is cross referred from the trading
results and dividends section of the directors’ report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion the company has not kept
proper accounting records if we have not received all the information and
explanations we require for our audit or if information speciﬁed by law
regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we review whether the corporate governance statement reﬂects the
company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 combined
code speciﬁed for our review by the listing rules of the financial services
authority and we report if it does notwe are not required to consider
whether the board’s statements on internal control cover all risks and
controls or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate
governance procedures or its risk and control procedures
we read the other information contained in the annual report as described
in the contents section and consider whether it is consistent with the
audited ﬁnancial statementswe consider the implications for our 
report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the ﬁnancial statements our responsibilities 
do not extend to any further information outside the annual report
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on
auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing practices board an audit
includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts
and disclosures in the ﬁnancial statements and the part of the directors’
remuneration report to be audited it also includes an assessment of the
signiﬁcant estimates and judgments made by the directors in the
preparation of the ﬁnancial statements and of whether the accounting
policies are appropriate to the group’s and company’s circumstances
consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information
and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us
with sufﬁcient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the ﬁnancial
statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited
are free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other
irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall
adequacy of the presentation of information in the ﬁnancial statements
and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited
opinion
in our opinion
•
the group ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance
with ifrss as adopted by the european union of the state of the group’s
affairs as at 30 april 2007 and of its proﬁt for the year then ended
•
the individual company ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view
in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union as applied 
in accordance with the provisions of the companies act 1985 of the
state of the company’s affairs as at 30 april 2007
•
the ﬁnancial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration
report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with 
the companies act 1985 and as regards the group ﬁnancial statements
article 4 of the ias regulation and
•
the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the
ﬁnancial statements
separate opinion in relation to ifrss
as explained in note 1 to the group ﬁnancial statements the group in
addition to complying with its legal obligation to comply with ifrss as
adopted by the european union has also complied with the ifrss as issued
by the international accounting standards board accordingly in our opinion
the group ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with
ifrss of the state of the group’s affairs as at 30 april 2007 and of its proﬁt
for the year then ended
deloitte  touche llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors 
london
25 june 2007
independent auditors’ report to the members 
of ashtead group plc
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1156 am  page 49 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 consolidated income statement 50
2007 2006
before 
exceptional exceptional before
items items exceptional exceptional
amortisation amortisation items and items
and fair value and fair value fair value and fair value
remeasurements

remeasurements

total remeasurements

remeasurements

total
notes £m £m £m £m £m £m
revenue 2 8961 – 8961 6380 – 6380
staff costs 2846 101 2947 2001 03 2004
other operating costs 3130 265 3395 2223 13 2236
other income 118 09 109 91 150 241
ebitda 3103 375 2728 2247 134 2381
depreciation 1598 09 1607 1136 – 1136
amortisation – 110 110 –––
operating proﬁt 23 1505 494 1011 1111 134 1245
investment income 39 – 39 27 78 105
interest expense 730 685 1415 463 70 533
net ﬁnancing costs 4 691 685 1376 436 08 428
lossproﬁt on ordinary activities before taxation 814 1179 365 675 142 817
t axation
– current 6 04 – 04 01 54 55
– deferred 617 283 731 448 210 04 206
287 731 444 211 50 261
proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders 527 448 79 464 92 556
basic earnings per share 8 103p 88p 15p 113p 22p 135p
diluted earnings per share 8 101p 86p 15p 110p 22p 132p
 ebitda is presented here as an additional performance measure as it is commonly used by investors and lenders
 fair value remeasurements relate to embedded derivatives in longterm debt
the group’s results are all derived from continuing operations
consolidated income statement
for the year ended 30 april 2007
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 50 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 consolidated statement of recognised income and expense 51
2007 2006
£m £m
proﬁt for the ﬁnancial year 79 556
actuarial gain on deﬁned beneﬁt pension schemes 25 02
foreign currency translation differences 130 154
tax on items taken directly to equity 16 –
total recognised income and expense for the year 10 712
consolidated movements in equity shareholders’ funds
for the year ended 30 april 2007
2007 2006
£m £m
total recognised income and expense for the year 10 712
issue of ordinary shares net of expenses 1489 709
dividends paid 70 20
credit in respect of sharebased payments 24 13
own shares acquired by esot 49 28
net increase in equity shareholders’ funds in the year 1384 1386
equity shareholders’ funds at the beginning of the year 2583 1197
closing equity shareholders’ funds 3967 2583
consolidated statement of recognised income 
and expense
for the year ended 30 april 2007
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 51 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 consolidated balance sheet 52
2007 2006
notes £m £m
current assets
inventories 9 242 127
trade and other receivables 10 1637 1104
current tax asset 20 –
assets held for sale 103 –
cash and cash equivalents 23c 11 10
2013 1241
noncurrent assets
property plant and equipment
– rental equipment 11 9206 5599
– other assets 11 1274 868
10480 6467
intangible assets – brand names and other acquired intangibles 12 97 –
goodwill 12 2896 1490
deferred tax asset 17 417 29
other ﬁnancial assets – derivatives 15 – 154
deﬁned beneﬁt pension fund surplus 22 52 17
13942 8157
total assets 15955 9398
current liabilities
trade and other payables 13 1668 991
current tax liabilities 07 33
debt due within one year 14 90 106
provisions 16 127 70
1892 1200
noncurrent liabilities
debt due after more than one year 14 9080 4840
provisions 16 196 113
deferred tax liabilities 17 820 662
10096 5615
total liabilities 11988 6815
equity shareholders’ funds
share capital 18 560 404
share premium account 19 33 32
nondistributable reserve 19 907 907
own shares held in treasury through the esot 19 87 42
cumulative foreign exchange translation differences 19 302 172
distributable reserves 19 2856 1454
total equity shareholders’ funds 3967 2583
total liabilities and equity shareholders’ funds 15955 9398
t o t a l l i a b i l i t i e s a n d e q u i t y s h a r e h o l d e r s ’f u n d s
these ﬁnancial statements were approved by the board on 25 june 2007
g drabble si robson
chief executive finance director
consolidated balance sheet
at 30 april 2007
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 52 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 consolidated cash flow statement 53
2007 2006
notes £m £m £m £m
cash ﬂows from operating activities
cash generated from operations before exceptional items 23a 3193 2152
exceptional items 190 111
pension payment – 171
cash generated from operations 3003 2092
financing costs paid before exceptional items 642 387
exceptional ﬁnancing costs paid 498 133
financing costs paid 1140 520
tax paid 50 28
net cash from operating activities 1813 1544
cash ﬂows from investing activities
acquisition of businesses 23e 3272 570
disposal of businesses – 128
payments for property plant and equipment 3083 2293
proceeds on sale of property plant and equipment 785 504
net cash used in investing activities 5570 2231
cash ﬂows from ﬁnancing activities
drawdown of loans 8905 2575
redemption of loans 6418 2440
capital element of ﬁnance lease payments 99 121
purchase of own shares by the esot 49 28
dividends paid 70 20
proceeds from issue of ordinary shares 1489 709
net cash from ﬁnancing activities 3758 675
increasedecrease in cash and cash equivalents 01 12
opening cash and cash equivalents 10 21
effect of exchange rate changes – 01
closing cash and cash equivalents 11 10
consolidated cash flow statement
for the year ended 30 april 2007
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 53 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 54
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
1 accounting policies
the principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of these
ﬁnancial statements are set out below these policies have been applied
consistently to all the years presented unless otherwise stated
basis of preparation
these ﬁnancial statements have been prepared in accordance with
international financial reporting standards ifrs and ifric interpretations
and with those parts of the companies act 1985 applicable to companies
reporting under ifrs accordingly the group complies with all ifrs
including those adopted for use in the european union the ﬁnancial
statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention
modiﬁed for certain items carried at fair value as stated in the accounting
policies a summary of the more important accounting policies is set out
below
the group has adopted early the following interpretations as at 
30 april 2007
•
ifric 9 reassessment of embedded derivatives
•
ifric 10 interim reporting and impairments
•
ifric 11 ifrs 2 – group and treasury share transactions
at the date of authorisation of these ﬁnancial statements ifrs 7 financial
instruments disclosures and the related amendment to ias 1 presentation
of financial statements on capital disclosures and ifrs 8 operating
segments were in issue but not yet effective and have not been applied
adoption will have no material impact on the ﬁnancial statements of the
group except for additional disclosures when the standards come into
effect for the years ending 30 april 2008 and 30 april 2010 respectively
the preparation of ﬁnancial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles requires management to use estimates and
assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at
the date of the ﬁnancial statements and the reported amount of revenue
and expenses during the reporting period the principal management
estimates and assumptions are discussed in more detail in the business 
and financial review actual results could differ from these estimates
basis of consolidation
the group ﬁnancial statements incorporate the ﬁnancial statements of 
the company and all its subsidiaries for the year to 30 april each year the
results of businesses acquired or sold during the year are incorporated for
the periods from or to the date on which control passed and acquisitions
are accounted for under the acquisition method control is achieved when
the group has the power to govern the ﬁnancial and operating policies of
an entity so as to obtain the beneﬁts from its activities
foreign currency translation 
assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at
rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date proﬁt and loss accounts
and cash ﬂows of overseas subsidiary undertakings are translated into
sterling at average rates of exchange for the year the exchange rates 
used in respect of the us dollar are
2007 2006
average for year 191 178
yearend 200 182
exchange differences arising from the retranslation of the opening net
investment of overseas subsidiaries and the difference between the
inclusion of their proﬁts at average rates of exchange in the group income
statement and the closing rate are recognised directly in a separate
component of equity other exchange differences are dealt with in the
income statement
revenue
revenue represents the total amount receivable for the provision of goods
and services to customers net of returns and value added tax rental
revenue including loss damage waiver fees is recognised on a straight line
basis over the period of the rental contract because the terms and
conditions of a rental contract can extend across ﬁnancial reporting period
ends the group records unbilled rental revenue and deferred revenue at the
end of the reporting periods so rental revenue is appropriately stated in the
ﬁnancial statements
revenue from rental equipment delivery and collection is recognised when
delivery or collection has occurred
revenue from the sale of new equipment parts and supplies retail
merchandise and fuel is recognised at the time of delivery to or collection
by the customer and when all obligations under the sales contract have
been fulﬁlled
currentnoncurrent distinction 
current assets include assets held primarily for trading purposes cash and
cash equivalents and assets expected to be realised in or intended for sale
or consumption in the course of the group’s operating cycle and those
assets receivable within one year from the reporting date all other assets
are classiﬁed as noncurrent assets
current liabilities include liabilities held primarily for trading purposes
liabilities expected to be settled in the course of the group’s operating
cycle and those liabilities due within one year from the reporting date
all other liabilities are classiﬁed as noncurrent liabilities
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 54 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 55
1 accounting policies continued
property plant and equipment
owned assets
property plant and equipment are stated at cost including transportation
costs from the manufacturer to the initial rental location less accumulated
depreciation and any provisions for impairment in respect of aerial work
platforms cost includes rebuild costs when the rebuild extends the asset’s
useful economic life and it is probable that incremental economic beneﬁts
will accrue to the group rebuild costs include the cost of transporting the
equipment to and from the rebuild facility additionally depreciation is not
charged while the asset is not in use during the rebuild period
leased assets
finance leases are those leases which transfer substantially all the risks and
rewards of ownership to the lessee assets held under ﬁnance leases are
capitalised within property plant and equipment at the fair value of the
leased assets at inception of the lease and depreciated in accordance with
the group’s depreciation policy outstanding ﬁnance lease obligations are
included within debt the ﬁnance element of the agreements is charged to
the income statement on a systematic basis over the term of the lease
all other leases are operating leases the rentals on which are charged to
the income statement on a straight line basis over the lease term
depreciation
leasehold properties are depreciated on a straight line basis over the life of
each lease other ﬁxed assets including those held under ﬁnance leases are
depreciated on a straight line basis applied to the opening cost to write
down each asset to its residual value over its useful economic life the rates
in use are as follows
per annum
freehold property 2 
rental equipment 5 to 33 
motor vehicles 16 to 25
ofﬁce and workshop equipment 20
residual values are estimated at 10 of cost in respect of most types of
rental equipment zero for scaffolding and similar equipment 15 for aerial
work platforms and high reach forklifts and 20 for steel site
accommodation units
gains and losses from the sale of used equipment are recognised in the
income statement as other income on transfer of title in the equipment to
the purchaser except in the case of sales of rental equipment lost when in
the possession of the rental customer which are recognised when the loss
is notiﬁed by the customer gains or losses in connection with tradein
arrangements with certain manufacturers from whom the group purchases
new equipment are accounted for at the lower of transaction value or fair
value based on independent appraisals if the tradein price of a unit of
equipment exceeds the fair market value of that unit the excess is
accounted for as a reduction of the cost of the related purchase of new
rental equipment
repairs and maintenance 
costs incurred in the repair and maintenance of rental and other
equipment are charged to the income statement as incurred
intangible assets
business combinations and goodwill
acquisitions are accounted for using the purchase method goodwill
represents the difference between the cost of the acquisition and the 
fair value of the net identiﬁable assets acquired including any intangible
assets other than goodwill adjustments to the fair values of assets 
acquired made within 12 months of acquisition date are accounted for
from the date of acquisition
for business combinations prior to 1 may 2004 but after 30 april 1999
goodwill is included at its deemed cost which represents the amount
recorded under uk gaap at the time as subsequently amortised up to
30 april 2004 under uk gaap goodwill arising on acquisitions prior to
30 april 1999 was eliminated against reserves the accounting treatment 
of business combinations occurring up to 30 april 2004 the date of
transition to ifrs has not been reconsidered as permitted under ifrs 1
first time adoption of international financial reporting standards
goodwill is stated at cost less any accumulated impairment losses and 
is allocated to the group’s three reporting units sunbelt aplant and
ashtead technology
the proﬁt or loss on the disposal of a previously acquired business includes
the attributable amount of any purchased goodwill relating to that business
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 55 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 56
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
1 accounting policies continued
other intangible assets
other intangible assets acquired as part of a business combination are
capitalised at fair value as at the date of acquisition internally generated
intangible assets are not capitalised amortisation is charged on a straight
line basis over the expected useful life of each asset the nationsrent brand
name had a fair value of £94m and was amortised fully over the eight
month period to 30 april 2007 reﬂecting the decision by the group not to
use the nationsrent name contract related intangible assets are amortised
over the life of the contract amortisation rates for other intangible assets
are as follows
per annum
brand names excluding nationsrent 83
customer lists 10 to 20
impairment of assets
goodwill is not amortised but is tested annually for impairment as at
30 april each year assets that are subject to amortisation or depreciation
are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances
indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable an impairment
loss is recognised in the income statement for the amount by which the
asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount for the purposes
of assessing impairment assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which
there are separately identiﬁable and independent cash ﬂows for the asset
being tested for impairment in the case of goodwill impairment is assessed
at the level of the group’s three reporting units
the recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s fair value less costs to
sell and value in use in assessing value in use estimated future cash ﬂows
are discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that
reﬂects current market assessments of the time value of money and the
risks speciﬁc to the asset
in respect of assets other than goodwill an impairment loss is reversed 
if there has been a change in the estimates used to determine the
recoverable amount an impairment loss is reversed only to the extent 
that the asset’s carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount 
that would have been determined net of depreciation or amortisation
if no impairment loss had been recognised impairment losses in respect 
of goodwill are not reversed
t axation 
the tax charge for the period comprises both current and deferred tax
taxation is recognised in the income statement except to the extent that it
relates to items recognised directly in equity in which case it is recognised
in equity
current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the year
and any adjustment to tax payable in respect of previous years
deferred tax is provided using the balance sheet liability method on any
temporary differences between the carrying amounts for ﬁnancial reporting
purposes and those for taxation purposes deferred tax liabilities are
generally recognised for all taxable temporary differences and deferred tax
assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable proﬁts
will be available against which deductible temporary differences can be
utilised such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the temporary
differences arise from the initial recognition of goodwill
deferred tax liabilities are not recognised for temporary differences arising
on investment in subsidiaries where the group is able to control the
reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that the temporary
difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future deferred tax is
calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when
the liability is settled or the asset is realised deferred tax assets and
liabilities are offset when they relate to income taxes levied by the same
taxation authority and the group intends to settle its current tax assets
and liabilities on a net basis
inventories
inventories which comprise new equipment fuel merchandise and spare
parts are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value
trade receivables
trade receivables do not carry interest and are stated at nominal value as
reduced by appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts
trade payables
trade payables are not interest bearing and are stated at nominal value
cash and cash equivalents
cash and cash equivalents comprises cash balances and call deposits with
maturity of less than or equal to three months
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 56 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 57
1 accounting policies continued
employee beneﬁts 
deﬁned contribution pension plans
obligations under the group’s deﬁned contribution plans are recognised 
as an expense in the income statement as incurred
deﬁned beneﬁt pension plans
the group’s obligation in respect of deﬁned beneﬁt pension plans is
calculated by estimating the amount of future beneﬁt that employees 
have earned in return for their service in the current and prior periods that
beneﬁt is discounted to determine its present value and the fair value of
plan assets is deducted the discount rate is the yield at the balance sheet
date on aa rated corporate bonds the calculation is performed by a
qualiﬁed actuary using the projected unit credit method
actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the period in which 
they arise through the statement of recognised income and expense
the increase in the present value of plan liabilities arising from employee
service during the period is charged to operating proﬁt the expected return
on plan assets and the expected increase during the period in the present
value of plan liabilities due to unwind of the discount are included in
investment income and interest expense respectively
sharebased compensation 
the fair value of awards made under sharebased compensation plans is
measured at grant date and spread over the vesting period through the
income statement with a corresponding increase in equity the fair value of
share options and awards is measured using an appropriate valuation model
taking into account the terms and conditions of the individual scheme the
amount recognised as an expense is adjusted to reﬂect the actual awards
vesting except where any change in the awards vesting relates only to
market based criteria not being achieved
insurance
insurance costs include insurance premiums which are written off to the
income statement over the period to which they relate and an estimate 
of the discounted liability for uninsured retained risks on unpaid claims
incurred up to the balance sheet date the estimate includes events
incurred but not reported at the balance sheet date this estimate is
discounted and included in provisions in the balance sheet
investment income and interest expense
investment income comprises interest receivable on funds invested fair
value gains on derivative ﬁnancial instruments and the expected return 
on plan assets in respect of deﬁned beneﬁt pension plans
interest expense comprises interest payable on borrowings amortisation of
deferred ﬁnance costs fair value losses on derivative ﬁnancial instruments
and the expected increase in plan liabilities in respect of deﬁned beneﬁt
pension schemes
financial instruments
details of the group’s treasury policies are set out in the business and
financial review on pages 30 and 31
derivatives 
the group uses a limited number of derivative ﬁnancial instruments to
hedge its exposure to ﬂuctuations in interest and foreign exchange rates
these are principally swap agreements used to manage the balance
between ﬁxed and ﬂoating rate ﬁnance on longterm debt and forward
contracts for known future foreign currency cash ﬂows the group does 
not hold or issue derivative instruments for speculative purposes
all derivatives are held at fair value in the balance sheet within trade and
other receivables or trade and other payables changes in the fair value of
derivative ﬁnancial instruments that are designated and effective as hedges
of future cash ﬂows are recognised directly in equity the gain or loss
relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in the income
statement amounts deferred in equity are recognised in the income
statement in the same period in which the hedged item affects proﬁt or
loss changes in the fair value of any derivative instruments that are not
hedge accounted are recognised immediately in the income statement
secured notes
the group’s secured notes contain early prepayment options which
constitute embedded derivatives in accordance with ias 39 financial
instruments recognition and measurement at the date of issue the
liability component of the notes is estimated using prevailing market
interest rates for similar debt with no prepayment option and is recorded
within borrowings the difference between the proceeds of the note issue
and the fair value assigned to the liability component representing the
embedded option to prepay the notes is included within “other ﬁnancial
assets – derivatives” the interest expense on the liability component is
calculated by applying the effective interest rate method the embedded
option to prepay is fair valued using an appropriate valuation model and
fair value remeasurement gains and losses are included in investment
income and interest expense respectively
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 57 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 58
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
1 accounting policies continued
convertible debt
convertible debt is regarded as a compound instrument consisting of a
liability and an equity component at the date of issue the fair value of the
liability component is estimated using the prevailing market interest rate
for similar nonconvertible debt and is recorded within borrowings the
difference between the fair value of the convertible debt at issue and the
fair value assigned to the liability component representing the embedded
option to convert the liability into equity of the group is included in equity
the interest expense on the liability component is calculated by applying
the effective interest rate for similar nonconvertible debt to the liability
component of the instrument the difference between this amount and 
the interest paid is added to the carrying amount of the convertible debt
exceptional items
exceptional items are those items that are material and nonrecurring in
nature that the group believes should be disclosed separately to assist in
the understanding of the ﬁnancial performance of the group
earnings per share
earnings per share is calculated based on the proﬁt for the ﬁnancial year
and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the
year for this purpose the number of ordinary shares in issue excludes
shares held by the esot and shares registered in the name of employees
but subject to forfeiture if performance targets are not achieved in respect
of which dividends have been waived diluted earnings per share is
calculated using the proﬁt for the ﬁnancial year and the weighted average
diluted number of shares ignoring any potential issue of ordinary shares
which would be antidilutive during the year
underlying earnings per share comprises basic earnings per share adjusted
to exclude earnings relating to exceptional items amortisation of acquired
intangibles and fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives in 
longterm debt cash tax earnings per share comprises underlying earnings
per share adjusted to exclude deferred taxation
provisions
provisions are recognised when the group has a present obligation as a
result of a past event and it is probable that the group will be required 
to settle that obligation provisions are measured at the directors’ best
estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation at the balance
sheet date and are discounted to present value where the effect is material
employee share ownership trust
shares in the company acquired by the employee share ownership trust 
in the open market for use in connection with employee share plans are
presented as a deduction from shareholders’ funds together with shares
transferred by the esot to employees and registered in the employees
name but subject to mandatory return to the esot if performance targets
are not achievedwhen the shares vest to satisfy sharebased payments
a transfer is made from shares held in treasury to retained earnings
noncurrent assets held for sale
noncurrent assets held for sale are measured at the lower of carrying
amount and fair value less costs to sell such assets are classiﬁed as held 
for sale if their carrying amount will be recovered through a sale transaction
rather than through continuing use such assets are not depreciated assets
are regarded as held for sale only when the sale is highly probable and the
asset is available for sale in its present condition management must be
committed to the sale which must be expected to qualify for recognition 
as a completed sale within one year from the date of classiﬁcation
borrowings
interest bearing bank loans and overdrafts are recorded at the proceeds
received net of direct transaction costs finance charges including
amortisation of direct transaction costs are charged to the income
statement using the effective interest rate method
revolving tranches of borrowings and overdrafts which mature on a regular
basis are classiﬁed as current or noncurrent liabilities based on the
maturity of the relevant facility
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 58 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 59
2 segmental analysis
business segments
the group operates one class of business rental of equipment operationally and managerially the group is split into three business units sunbelt aplant
and ashtead technology these business units are the basis on which the group reports its primary segment information
ashtead corporate
sunbelt aplant technology items group
y ear ended 30 april 2007 £m £m £m £m £m
revenue 6846 1899 216 – 8961
operating costs before exceptional items 4360 1310 106 82 5858
ebitda 2486 589 110 82 3103
depreciation 1161 388 48 01 1598
segment result before exceptional items 1325 201 62 83 1505
amortisation 108 02 – – 110
exceptional items 315 67 – 02 384
segment result 902 132 62 85 1011
net ﬁnancing costs 1376
loss before tax 365
t axation 444
proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders 79
segment assets 12341 2942 222 02 15507
cash 11
taxation assets 437
total assets 15955
segment liabilities 1295 491 41 29 1856
corporate borrowings and accrued interest 9305
taxation liabilities 827
total liabilities 11988
other noncash expenditure 
– sharebased payments 06 05 01 10 20
capital expenditure 7762 1040 85 – 8887
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 59 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 60
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
2 segmental analysis continued
ashtead corporate
sunbelt aplant technology items group
year ended 30 april 2006 £m £m £m £m £m
revenue 4612 1607 161 – 6380
operating costs before exceptional items 2878 1118 81 56 4133
ebitda 1734 489 80 56 2247
depreciation 745 350 40 01 1136
segment result before exceptional items 989 139 40 57 1111
exceptional items 134––– 134
segment result 1123 139 40 57 1245
net ﬁnancing costs 428
proﬁt before tax 817
t axation 261
proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders 556
segment assets 6670 2348 183 04 9205
cash 10
deferred tax asset 29
other ﬁnancial assets – derivatives 154
total assets 9398
segment liabilities 739 277 23 24 1063
corporate borrowings and accrued interest 5057
taxation liabilities 695
total liabilities 6815
other noncash expenditure
– sharebased payments 05 07 04 03 19
capital expenditure 2178 562 79 – 2819
there are no sales between the business segments segment assets include property plant and equipment goodwill inventory and receivables segment
liabilities comprise operating liabilities and exclude taxation balances corporate borrowings and accrued interest capital expenditure represents additions
to property plant and equipment and intangible assets and includes expenditure on acquisition of businesses
geographical segments
the group’s operations are located in north america the united kingdom and singapore the following table provides an analysis of the group’s revenue
segment assets and capital expenditure including acquisitions by geographical market
revenue segment assets capital expenditure
2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006
£m £m £m £m £m £m
north america 6942 4686 12450 6756 7805 2205
united kingdom 1994 1672 3029 2428 1073 606
rest of world 25 22 28 21 09 08
8961 6380 15507 9205 8887 2819
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 60 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 61
3 operating costs and other income
2007 2006
before
exceptional exceptional before
items and items and exceptional exceptional
amortisation amortisation total items items total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
staff costs
salaries 2585 – 2585 1818 03 1821
social security costs 214 – 214 155 – 155
other pension costs 47 – 47 28 – 28
redundancies and retention bonuses – 101 101 –––
2846 101 2947 2001 03 2004
other operating costs
vehicle costs 643 – 643 517 – 517
spares consumables and external repairs 575 – 575 453 – 453
facility costs 478 102 580 318 05 323
other external charges 1434 163 1597 935 08 943
3130 265 3395 2223 13 2236
other income
proﬁt on disposal of property plant and equipment 118 09 109 91 37 128
other income ––– – 113 113
118 09 109 91 150 241
depreciation and amortisation
depreciation of owned assets 1534 09 1543 1050 – 1050
depreciation of leased assets 64 – 64 86 – 86
amortisation of acquired intangibles – 110 110 –––
1598 119 1717 1136 – 1136
7456 494 7950 5269 134 5135
proceeds from the disposal of property plant and equipment amounted to £699m 2006 £637m other income in 2006 related to litigation proceeds
we have reclassiﬁed £03m in 2006 from salaries to other external charges
the costs shown in the above table include
2007 2006
before
exceptional exceptional before
items and items and exceptional exceptional
amortisation amortisation total items items total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
operating lease rentals payable
plant and equipment 56 – 56 36 – 36
property 264 102 366 176 05 181
cost of inventories recognised as expense 1063 – 1063 688 – 688
bad debt expense 63 – 63 43 – 43
net foreign exchange lossesgains 01 – 01 01 – 01
the group’s key management comprise the company’s executive and nonexecutive directors details of their remuneration together with their share
interests and share option awards are given in the directors’ remuneration report and form part of these ﬁnancial statements
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 61 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 62
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
3 operating costs and other income continued
remuneration payable to the company’s auditors deloitte  touche llp in the year is given below
2007 2006
£’000 £’000
audit services
fees payable to deloitte uk
– group audit 379 340
– uk statutory audits of subsidiaries 28 25
fees payable to other deloitte ﬁrms
– overseas statutory audit 3 2
– overseas subsidiary audits 352 194
762 561
other services
fees payable to deloitte uk
– half year review 102 79
– other assurance services 18 18
– due diligence services 345 250
fees payable to other deloitte ﬁrms
– t ax services 28 36
– other assurance services 53 –
1308 944
due diligence services in 2007 relate to the lux acquisition and the review of the group’s working capital required in connection with the 
nationsrent acquisition
4 net financing costs
2007 2006
£m £m
investment income
interest and other ﬁnancial income 01 05
expected return on assets of deﬁned beneﬁt pension plan 38 22
39 27
exceptional income and fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives – 78
total investment income 39 105
interest expense
bank interest payable 340 163
interest on second priority senior secured notes 317 197
interest payable on ﬁnance leases 16 18
525 unsecured convertible loan note due 2008
– interest payable – 19
– noncash unwind of discount – 10
noncash unwind of discount on deﬁned pension plan liabilities 25 22
noncash unwind of discount on insurance provisions 07 04
fair value losses on derivatives not accounted for as hedges – 03
amortisation of deferred costs of debt raising 25 27
730 463
exceptional costs and fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives 685 70
total interest expense 1415 533
net ﬁnancing costs before exceptional items and fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives 691 436
net exceptional income and fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives 685 08
net ﬁnancing costs 1376 428
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 62 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 63
5 exceptional items amortisation and fair value remeasurements 
2007 2006
£m £m
senior note redemption costs 421 50
write off of deferred ﬁnancing costs relating to debt redeemed 105 15
acquisition integration costs 213 08
rebranding costs 94 –
uk restructuring 62 –
litigation proceeds – 113
proﬁt on sale of scaffolding – 29
gain on repayment of convertible loan note – 20
other costs 20 03
total exceptional items 915 86
amortisation of acquired intangibles 110 –
fair value remeasurements of embedded derivatives 154 56
1179 142
senior note redemption costs include ‘makewhole’ payments and associated costs of £254m paid at closing on 31 august 2006 in connection with
nationsrent’s 400m secured and unsecured loan notes and £167m paid on the same date in connection with the redemption of the £78m ashtead
secured loan notes due 2014 the write off of deferred ﬁnancing costs relates to deferred costs previously carried forward on both ashtead’s sterling senior
notes and its 800m asset based bank facility which was replaced on 31 august 2006 by a new 175bn asset based bank facility acquisition integration
costs relate primarily to employee retention and severance costs and vacant property costs following the nationsrent acquisition and rebranding relates to
new signage for proﬁt centres and repainting of former nationsrent equipment uk restructuring relates to principally vacant property costs and the write
off of leasehold improvements at proﬁt centres closed as a result of the aplant move to fewer larger sites
exceptional items amortisation and fair value remeasurements are presented in the income statement as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
staff costs 101 03
other operating costs 265 13
other income 09 150
depreciation 09 –
amortisation 110 –
chargedcredited in arriving at operating proﬁt 494 134
investment income – 78
interest expense 685 70
chargedcredited in arriving at proﬁt before taxation 1179 142
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 63 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 64
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
6 t axation
2007 2006
£m £m
analysis of creditcharge in period
current tax
– uk corporation tax at 30 2006 30 – –
– overseas taxation 04 55
04 55
deferred tax 448 206
t axation 444 261
the tax credit comprises a charge of £287m 2006 £211m relating to tax on the proﬁt before exceptional items amortisation and fair value
remeasurements and a credit of £731m 2006 charge of £50m relating to tax on exceptional items amortisation and fair value remeasurements 
of £372m and the recognition of a previously unrecognised uk deferred tax asset of £359m
the tax credit for the period is higher than the standard rate of corporation tax in the uk 30 the differences are explained below
2007 2006
£m £m
lossproﬁt on ordinary activities before tax 365 817
lossproﬁt on ordinary activities multiplied by the rate of 
corporation tax in the uk of 30 2006 30 109 245
effects of
adjustment to tax charge in respect of prior period – 04
use of foreign tax rates on overseas income 18 68
exceptional recognition of deferred tax asset 359 –
deferred tax asset recognised – 29
change in unrecognised deferred tax asset 33 27
other 09 –
total taxation 444 261
7 dividends
2007 2006
£m £m
final dividend paid on 28 september 2006 of 10p 2005 nil per 10p ordinary share 40 –
interim dividend paid on 28 february 2007 of 055p 2006 05p per 10p ordinary share 30 20
70 20
in addition the directors are proposing a ﬁnal dividend in respect of the ﬁnancial year ended 30 april 2007 of 11p per share which will absorb £60m of
shareholders’ funds subject to approval by shareholders it will be paid on 28 september 2007 to shareholders who are on the register of members on
7 september 2007
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 64 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 65
8 earnings per share
2007 2006
weighted per weighted per
average no share average no share
earnings of shares amount earnings of shares amount
£m million pence £m million pence
basic earnings per share 79 5123 15p 556 4109 135p
effect of dilutive securities
share options and share plan awards – 67 – – 90 03p
diluted earnings per share 79 5190 15p 556 4199 132p
underlying and cash tax earnings per share may be reconciled to the basic earnings per share as follows
2007 2006
pence pence
basic earnings per share 15 135
exceptional items amortisation of acquired intangibles and fair value remeasurements 230 34
tax on exceptional items amortisation and fair value remeasurements 72 12
exceptional deferred tax credit for previously unrecognised uk tax losses 70 –
underlying earnings per share 103 113
other deferred tax 55 51
cash tax earnings per share 158 164
9 inventories
2007 2006
£m £m
raw materials consumables and spares 108 81
goods for resale 134 46
242 127
10 trade and other receiv ables
2007 2006
£m £m
trade receivables 1563 1049
less provisions for impairment 124 84
1439 965
other receivables 198 139
1637 1104
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 65 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 66
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
11 property plant and equipment
rental equipment motor vehicles
ofﬁce and
land and held under workshop other held under
buildings owned ﬁnance leases equipment leases owned ﬁnance leases total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
cost or valuation
at 1 may 2005 606 7920 82 232 07 40 369 9256
exchange difference 13 265 02 06 – 01 12 299
acquisitions 04 322 – 01 – 26 – 353
reclassiﬁcations – 69 65 12 07 14 23 –
additions 40 2018 – 39 – 85 20 2202
disposals 23 1394 – 17 – 20 15 1469
at 30 april 2006 640 9200 19 273 – 146 363 10641
exchange difference 30 774 02 22 – 32 26 886
acquisitions 94 5050 02 210 – 471 82 5909
reclassiﬁcations – 09 15 03 – 33 30 –
additions 46 2564 – 67 – 200 25 2902
disposals 29 1712 – 54 – 79 33 1907
at 30 april 2007 721 14337 04 477 – 739 381 16659
depreciation
at 1 may 2005 156 3466 07 167 03 04 82 3885
exchange difference 03 104 – 05 – – 01 113
reclassiﬁcations – 05 04 07 05 09 12 –
charge for the period 32 959 03 37 02 22 81 1136
disposals 07 920 – 14 – 13 06 960
at 30 april 2006 184 3614 06 202 – 22 146 4174
exchange difference 08 291 01 18 – 15 09 342
acquisitions 16 1606 – 158 – 274 03 2057
reclassiﬁcations – 04 06 02 – 18 18 –
charge for the period 41 1382 02 46 – 74 62 1607
disposals 14 1181 – 39 – 60 23 1317
at 30 april 2007 219 5134 01 351 – 313 161 6179
net book value
at 30 april 2007 502 9203 03 126 – 426 220 10480
at 30 april 2006 456 5586 13 71 – 124 217 6467
the amount of rebuild costs capitalised in the year was £54m 2006 £41m
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 66 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 67
12 intangible assets including goodwill
other intangible assets
brand customer contract
goodwill names lists related total total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
at 1 may 2005 1182–––– 1182
recognised on acquisition 264–––– 264
exchange differences 44–––– 44
at 30 april 2006 1490–––– 1490
recognised on acquisition 1612 107 17 86 210 1822
adjustment to prior year acquisition 01–––– 01
amortisation – 94 01 15 110 110
exchange differences 207 – – 03 03 210
at 30 april 2007 2896 13 16 68 97 2993
goodwill acquired in a business combination was allocated at acquisition to the reporting units that beneﬁted from that business combination as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
sunbelt 2749 1438
aplant 127 30
ashtead technology 20 22
2896 1490
for the purposes of determining potential goodwill impairment recoverable amounts are determined from value in use calculations using cash ﬂow
projections based on approved ﬁnancial plans covering a three year period the growth rate assumptions used in the plans were based on past performance
and management’s expectations of market developments the annual growth rate used to determine the cash ﬂows beyond the three year period is 2 and
does not exceed the average longterm growth rates for the relevant markets the pretax rate used to discount the projected cash ﬂows for sunbelt is 9
13 trade and other pay ables
2007 2006
£m £m
trade payables 558 362
other taxes and social security 136 85
accruals and deferred income 974 544
1668 991
trade and other payables include amounts relating to the purchase of ﬁxed assets of £470m 2006 £300m
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 67 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 68
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
14 borrowings
2007 2006
£m £m
current
first priority senior secured bank debt 13 15
finance lease obligations 77 91
90 106
noncurrent
first priority senior secured bank debt 5046 2615
finance lease obligations 143 141
12 second priority senior secured notes due 2014 – 755
8625 second priority senior secured notes due 2015 1206 1327
9 second priority senior secured notes due 2016 2683 –
loan notes 02 02
9080 4840
costs incurred during the year relating to the raising of debt amounted to £152m 2006 £63m and have been carried forward against the book value of
the associated debt in accordance with the group’s accounting policies
senior secured bank debt and the senior secured notes are secured by way of respectively ﬁrst and second priority ﬁxed and ﬂoating charges over
substantially all the group’s property plant and equipment inventory and trade receivables
first priority senior secured credit facility
in connection with the nationsrent acquisition on 31 august 2006 the group repaid the outstanding borrowings under its 800m ﬁrst priority asset
based senior secured loan facility and replaced it with a new 175bn ﬁrst priority asset based senior secured loan facility “abl facility” the new abl
facility consists of a 15bn revolving credit facility and a 250m term loan and is secured by a ﬁrst priority interest in substantially all of the group’s
assets pricing is based on the ratio of funded debt to ebitda before exceptional items according to a grid which varies depending on leverage from libor
plus 225bp to libor plus 150bp at 30 april 2007 the group’s borrowing rate was libor plus 175bp
the abl facility carries minimal amortisation of 1 per annum 25m on the term loan and is committed until august 2011 the abl facility includes 
a springing covenant package under which quarterly ﬁnancial performance covenants are tested only if available liquidity is less than 125m available
liquidity at 30 april 2007 was £295m 589m reﬂecting drawings under the facility at that date together with outstanding letters of credit of £186m
372m as the abl facility is asset based the maximum amount available to be borrowed which includes drawings in the form of standby letters 
of credit depends on asset values receivables inventory rental equipment and real estate which are subject to periodic independent appraisal the
maximum amount which could be drawn at 30 april 2007 was £832m 1663m
12 second priority senior secured notes due 2014 having a nominal value of £78m
these notes were redeemed on 31 august 2006 for their nominal value of £78m plus a “makewhole” payment of £167m including costs
8625 second priority senior secured notes due 2015 having a nominal value of 250m
on 3 august 2005 the group through its wholly owned subsidiary ashtead holdings plc issued 250m of 8625 second priority senior secured notes
due 1 august 2015 the notes are secured by second priority security interests over substantially the same assets as the abl facility and are also
guaranteed by ashtead group plc
9 second priority senior secured notes due 2016 having a nominal value of 550m
on 15 august 2006 the group through its wholly owned subsidiary ashtead capital inc issued 550m of 9 second priority senior secured notes due
15 august 2016 the notes are secured by second priority interests over substantially the same assets as the abl facility and are also guaranteed by
ashtead group plc both note issues rank pari passu on a second lien basis
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 68 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 69
15 financial instruments 
the effective rates of interest at the balance sheet dates were as follows
2007 2006
first priority senior secured bank debt – revolving advances in dollars 713 625
– term loan advances in dollars 713 650
– revolving advances in sterling 730 608
sterling secured notes na 120
dollar secured notes – 250m nominal value 8625 8625
– 550m nominal value 90 na
finance leases 70 70
a discussion of ﬁnancial instruments used by the group and its approach to managing foreign exchange and interest rate risk is included in the business
and financial review
net fair values of derivative ﬁnancial instruments
at 30 april 2007 the group’s embedded prepayment options included within its secured loan notes had a combined fair value of £nil 2006 £154m
at 30 april 2007 the group had no other derivative ﬁnancial instruments at 30 april 2006 the group had one interest rate swap with a notional principal
of 100m which was designated as a cash ﬂow hedge and which matured on 3 may 2006 the net fair value of this derivative ﬁnancial instrument at
30 april 2006 was £03m
fair value of nonderivative ﬁnancial assets and liabilities
the table below provides a comparison by category of the carrying amounts and the fair values of the group’s nonderivative ﬁnancial assets and
liabilities at 30 april 2007 fair value is the amount at which a ﬁnancial instrument could be exchanged in an arm’s length transaction between informed
and willing parties and includes accrued interestwhere available market values have been used to determine fair values of ﬁnancial assets and liabilities
where market values are not available fair values of ﬁnancial assets and liabilities have been calculated by discounting expected future cash ﬂows at
prevailing interest and exchange rates
2007 2006
book value fair value book value fair value
£m £m £m £m
fair value of noncurrent borrowings
longterm borrowings
– ﬁrst priority senior secured bank debt 5111 5111 2705 2705
– ﬁnance lease obligations 143 147 141 137
– 12 senior secured notes –– 780 925
– 8625 senior secured notes 1250 1300 1375 1425
– 9 senior secured notes 2750 2963 ––
– other loan notes 02 02 02 02
9256 9523 5003 5194
deferred costs of raising ﬁnance 176 – 163 –
9080 9523 4840 5194
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 69 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 70
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
15 financial instruments continued
2007 2006
book value fair value book value fair value
£m £m £m £m
fair value of other ﬁnancial instruments held or issued to ﬁnance the group’s operations
shortterm borrowings 13 13 15 15
finance lease obligations due within one year 77 79 91 88
trade and other payables 1668 1668 991 991
trade and other receivables 1637 1637 1104 1104
cash at bank and in hand 11 11 10 10
maturity of ﬁnancial liabilities
the maturity proﬁle of the carrying amount of the group’s ﬁnancial liabilities is as follows
2007 2006
finance finance
debt leases total debt leases total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
less than one year 13 77 90 15 91 106
between one and two years 13 57 70 15 55 70
between two and ﬁve years 5035 86 5121 2602 85 2687
more than ﬁve years 3889 – 3889 2082 01 2083
8950 220 9170 4714 232 4946
the minimum lease payments under ﬁnance leases fall due as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
within one year 89 103
later than one year but not more than ﬁve 163 157
more than ﬁve years – 01
252 261
future ﬁnance charges on ﬁnance leases 32 29
present value of future ﬁnance lease payments 220 232
16 provisions
selfinsurance other total
£m £m £m
at 1 may 2006 158 25 183
exchange differences 16 04 20
acquired in the year 63 – 63
utilised 124 31 155
charged in the year 120 125 245
amortisation of discount 07 – 07
at 30 april 2007 208 115 323
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 70 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 71
16 provisions continued
2007 2006
£m £m
included in current liabilities 127 70
included in noncurrent liabilities 196 113
323 183
self insurance provisions relate to the discounted estimated liability in respect of costs to be incurred under the group’s selfinsured programmes for
events occurring up to the yearend and are expected to be utilised over a period of approximately eight years the provision is established based on advice
received from independent actuaries of the estimated total cost of the self insured retained risk based on historical claims experience the amount charged
in the year is stated net of a £31m adjustment to reduce the provision held at 1 may 2006
other provisions relate primarily to vacant property costs which are expected to be utilised over a period of up to ﬁve years
17 deferred tax 
deferred tax assets
other
temporary
tax losses differences total
£m £m £m
at 1 may 2006 14 185 199
exchange differences 14 21 35
acquisitions 287 145 432
chargecredit to income statement 25 393 368
credit to equity – 16 16
less offset against deferred tax liability 262 301 563
at 30 april 2007 – 417 417
deferred tax liabilities
other
accelerated temporary
tax depreciation differences total
£m £m £m
at 1 may 2006 806 26 832
exchange differences 106 – 106
acquisitions 724 13 737
credit to income statement 47 33 80
1377 06 1383
less offset of deferred tax assets
– beneﬁt of tax losses 262
– other temporary differences 301
at 30 april 2007 820
the group’s improving proﬁtability in the uk and the reorganisation of our internal corporate structure to ﬁnance the nationsrent acquisition has enabled
the group to recognise a total deferred tax asset in the uk of £417m at 30 april 2007 2006 £29m as it is considered probable that sufﬁcient taxable
proﬁt will be available to utilise this deferred tax asset the group has an unrecognised uk deferred tax asset of £20m 2006 £343m in respect of losses
as it is not considered probable this deferred tax asset will be utilised
at the balance sheet date the aggregate amount of temporary differences associated with undistributed earnings of subsidiaries for which deferred tax
liabilities have not been recognised was £116m 2006 £92m no liability has been recognised in respect of these differences because the group is in a
position to control the timing of the reversal of the temporary differences and it is probable that such differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 71 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 72
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
18 called up share capital 
2007 2006 2007 2006
number number £m £m
ordinary shares of 10p each
authorised 900000000 900000000 900 900
issued and fully paid
at 1 may 404334066 326074928 404 326
allotted under share option schemes 3324267 4908786 04 05
allotted through rights issue 152240015 73350352 152 73
at 30 april 559898348 404334066 560 404
on 29 august 2006 the group issued 152240015 ordinary shares of 10p each at £1 per share through a 3 for 8 rights issue which raised £1522m before
issue expenses of £55m a further 3324267 shares were issued during the year at an average price of 646p per share under share option plans raising
£22m
19 reconciliation of changes in shareholders’ funds
own cumulative
equity shares foreign
share element of non held in exchange
share premium convertible distributable treasury translation distributable
capital account loan note reserve esot differences reserves total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
at 1 may 2005 326 1008 243 – 16 326 38 1197
total recognised income and expense ––––– 154 558 712
shares issued 78 662 – 31 – – – 709
dividends –––––– 20 20
sharebased payments –––––– 13 13
capital reduction – 1638 – 938 – – 700 –
vesting of share awards –––– 02 – 02 –
own shares purchased –––– 28 – – 28
redemption of convertible loan note – – 243 – – – 243 –
at 30 april 2006 404 32 – 907 42 172 1454 2583
total recognised income and expense ––––– 130 120 10
shares issued 156 01–––– 1332 1489
dividends –––––– 70 70
sharebased payments –––––– 24 24
vesting of share awards –––– 04 – 04 –
own shares purchased –––– 49 – – 49
at 30 april 2007 560 33 – 907 87 302 2856 3967
20 sharebased payments
the employee share option trust esot facilitates the provision of shares under certain of the group’s sharebased remuneration plans it holds a
beneﬁcial interest in 8290747 ordinary shares of the company acquired at an average cost of 1047p per share the esot owned directly 4932329 of
these shares and a further 3358418 shares were registered in the name of investment incentive plan or performance share plan participants on terms
which require that the award shares are transferred back to the esot to the extent that the performance targets are not met the shares had a market
value of £128m at 30 april 2007 the esot and the plan participants have waived the right to receive dividends on the shares they hold the costs of
operating the esot are borne by the group but are not signiﬁcant
the group has recognised the fair value of sharebased payments to employees based on grants of shares since 7 november 2002 the transitional date
for ifrs 2 sharebased payments
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 72 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 73
20 sharebased payments continued
cash incentive plan
the cash incentive plan “cip” is an award of units which are subject to the same performance conditions as apply to the company’s unapproved share
option scheme awards were granted under this plan in 2000 and 2001 and are exercisable up to february 2010 and 2011 respectively as all performance
conditions have been satisﬁed on exercise by the option holder the difference between the midmarket price of ashtead group plc shares on that day
and the grant prices of 9409p and 11531p for the 2000 and 2001 awards respectively multiplied by the number of units held will be paid by way of a
cash award to the holder net of applicable taxes
in 2006 the credit in respect of the cip was £289000 2006 charge of £558000 the fair value of the awards at 30 april 2007 was based on the share
price on that date
investment incentive plan
details of the investment incentive plan “iip” are given on page 41 the costs of this scheme are charged to the income statement over the vesting
period based upon the fair value of the award at the grant date and the likelihood of allocations vesting under the scheme in 2007 the charge in respect
of the iip was £160000 2006 £160000 no awards were granted under the iip in 2007 the fair value of awards granted during 2004 was estimated
using a blackscholes option pricing model with the following assumptions share price at grant date of 4850p nil exercise price no dividend yield
volatility of 1254 a risk free rate of 49 and an expected life of three years
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility over the previous three years the expected life used in the model is based 
on the terms of the plan
performance share plan 
details of the performance share plan ‘psp’ are given on pages 41 and 42 the costs of this scheme are charged to the income statement over the
vesting period based on the fair value of the award at the grant date and the likelihood of allocations vesting under the scheme in 2007 the charge 
in respect of the psp was £1275000 2006 £828000
the fair value of awards granted during the year is estimated using a blackscholes option pricing model with the following assumptions share price 
at grant date of 15350p nil exercise price a dividend yield of 098 volatility of 580 a risk free rate of 49 and an expected life of three years
expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility over the previous three years the expected life used in the model is based 
on the terms of the plan
discretionary share option schemes
details of the discretionary share option schemes are given on page 41 in accordance with the transitional provisions of ifrs 2 sharebased payments
the group has not recognised any expense for these schemes as they were all granted prior to 7 november 2002
saveasy ouearn saye schemes
the costs of saye schemes are charged to the income statement over the vesting period based upon the fair value of the award at the grant date
in 2007 the charge in respect of saye schemes was £286000 2006 £400000
the fair value of awards granted during the year is estimated using a blackscholes option pricing model with the following assumptions share price at
grant date of 12892p exercise price of 12214p a dividend yield of 116 volatility of 462 a risk free rate of 49 and an expected life of three years
expected volatility was determined by calculating historical volatility over the previous three years the expected life used in the model is based on the
terms of the plan
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 73 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 74
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
20 sharebased payments continued
discretionary schemes saye
weighted weighted
average average
exercise exercise iip psp
number price p number price p number number
20045
outstanding at 1 may 2004 15298668 107613 3410276 30372 2072582 –
granted – – 1960219 30740 987501 1831500
forfeited 2576686 132478 149112 32150 1896113 –
exercised 25000 41500 393364 42872 – –
expired 887290 61440 584512 36962 – –
outstanding at 30 april 2005 11809692 105797 4243507 28413 1163970 1831500
exercisable at 30 april 2005 – – 120245 50748 – –
20056
outstanding at 1 may 2005 11809692 105797 4243507 28413 1163970 1831500
granted – – 398777 115430 – 1899399
forfeited 507234 120544 124396 32369 – 88453
exercised 4815598 80813 93188 48774 176469 –
expired – – 197774 37403 – –
outstanding at 30 april 2006 6486860 123191 4226926 35637 987501 3642446
exercisable at 30 april 2006 6486860 123191 33674 31233 – –
20067
outstanding at 1 may 2006 6486860 123191 4226926 35637 987501 3642446
granted – – 555938 132400 – 1759087
rights issue uplift 505874 – 287945 – 83045 296891
forfeited 32077 107541 77270 80408 – 210252
exercised 1993853 90741 1330414 25385 – –
expired 4336 124223 183483 88572 – –
outstanding at 30 april 2007 4962468 123876 3479642 48911 1070546 5488172
exercisable at 30 april 2007 4962468 123876 81380 23246 – –
options outstanding at 30 april 2007
discretionary schemes saye
weighted weighted
average latest average latest
exercise number exercise exercise number exercise
year of grant price p of shares date price p of shares date
19978 170384 1346487 05 feb 08–––
19989 160320 763910 26 feb 09–––
19992000 94039 186828 08 mar 10–––
20001 108384 2043295 16 aug 10–––
20012 38282 621948 26 feb 12 38374 8625 30 sep 07
20023 – – – 22388 947115 31 oct 08
20034 ––––––
20045 – – – 28357 1647571 31 mar 08
20056 – – – 106480 325299 30 apr 09
20067 – – – 122134 551032 28 feb 10
4962468 3479642
the weighted average share price during the period for options exercised over the year was 90741p 2006 80813p for discretionary schemes and
25385p 2006 48774p for saye schemes the total charge for the year relating to employee sharebased payment plans was £20m 2006 £19m
comprising a £23m charge for equitysettled sharebased payment transactions and a £03m credit relating to cashsettled sharebased payment
transactions after deferred tax the total charge was £15m 2006 £17m
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 74 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 75
21 operating leases 
minimum annual commitments under existing operating leases may be analysed by date of expiry of the lease as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
land and buildings
expiring in one year 17 09
expiring between two and ﬁve years 166 55
expiring in more than ﬁve years 128 105
311 169
other
expiring in one year 05 01
expiring between two and ﬁve years 36 09
41 10
total 352 179
total minimum commitments under existing operating leases at 30 april 2007 through to the end of their respective term by year are as follows
land and
buildings other total
financial year £m £m £m
2008 311 41 352
2009 284 11 295
2010 213 01 214
2011 170 – 170
2012 142 – 142
thereafter 1200 – 1200
2320 53 2373
22 pensions
the group operates pension plans for the beneﬁt of qualifying employees the major plans for new employees throughout the group are all deﬁned
contribution plans following the introduction of the stakeholder pension plan for uk employees in may 2002 pension costs for deﬁned contribution plans
were £36m 2006 £18m
the group also has a deﬁned beneﬁt plan for uk employees which was closed to new members in 2001 this plan is a funded deﬁned beneﬁt plan with
trustee administered assets held separately from those of the group it was valued by the actuaries under ias 19 employee beneﬁts at 30 april 2007
the principal assumptions made by the actuary were as follows
2007 2006
rate of increase in salaries 425 400
rate of increase in pensions in payment 325 300
discount rate 550 500
inﬂation assumption 325 300
expected return on plan assets 740 730
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 75 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 76
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
22 pensions continued
the amounts recognised in the income statement are as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
current service cost 11 10
interest cost 25 22
expected return on plan assets 38 22
total incomeexpense 02 10
the amounts recognised in the balance sheet are determined as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
fair value of plan assets 576 522
present value of deﬁned beneﬁt obligation 524 505
net asset recognised in the balance sheet 52 17
movements in the present value of deﬁned beneﬁt obligations were as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
at 1 may 505 507
current service cost 11 10
interest cost 25 22
contributions from members 06 06
actuarial gainloss 16 51
beneﬁts paid 07 04
settlements – 87
524 505
the actuarial gain in the year ended 30 april 2007 reﬂects the increase in the required discount rate that for aa rated corporate bonds in the year from
50 to 55 which reduced the discounted amount of accrued deﬁned beneﬁt obligations partially offset by moving to the medium cohort mortality tables
movements in the fair value of plan assets were as follows
2007 2006
£m £m
at 1 may 522 345
expected return on plan assets 38 22
actual return on plan assets in excess of expected return 09 53
contributions from the sponsoring companies 08 187
contributions from members 06 06
beneﬁts paid 07 04
settlements – 87
576 522
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 76 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 77
22 pensions continued
the analysis of the scheme assets and the expected rate of return at the balance sheet date was as follows
expected return fair value
2007 2006 2007 2006
  £m £m
equity instruments 77 77 437 396
bonds 52 51 77 73
property 77 77 61 52
cash – – 01 01
576 522
the history of experience adjustments is as follows
2007 2006 2005
£m £m £m
fair value of scheme assets 576 522 345
present value of deﬁned beneﬁt obligations 524 505 507
surplusdeﬁcit in the scheme 52 17 162
experience adjustments on scheme liabilities
gainloss £m 16 51 42
percentage of scheme liabilities 3 10 8
experience adjustments on scheme assets
gain £m 09 53 05
percentage of the present value of the scheme assets 2 10 1
the estimated amount of contributions expected to be paid by the company to the plan during the current ﬁnancial year is £07m
23 notes to the cash flow st atement
a cash ﬂow from operating activities
2007 2006
£m £m
operating proﬁt 1011 1245
depreciation and amortisation 1717 1136
exceptional items 375 134
ebitda before exceptional items 3103 2247
proﬁt on disposal of property plant and equipment 118 91
decrease in inventories 148 22
decreaseincrease in trade and other receivables 72 112
decreaseincrease in trade and other payables 46 75
exchange differences 11 03
other noncash movements 23 14
cash generated from operations before exceptional items 3193 2152
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 77 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 78
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
23 notes to the cash flow st atement continued
b reconciliation to net debt
2007 2006
£m £m
increasedecrease in cash in the period 01 12
increase in debt through cash ﬂow 2388 14
change in net debt from cash ﬂows 2387 26
exchange differences 647 37
debt acquired 2328 –
noncash movements
– deferred costs of debt raising 130 40
– convertible loan note – 10
– capital element of new ﬁnance leases 25 20
movement in net debt in the period 4223 113
net debt at 1 may 4936 4823
net debt at 30 april 9159 4936
c analysis of net debt
1 may exchange cash debt noncash 30 april
2006 movement ﬂow acquired movements 2007
£m £m £m £m £m £m
cash and cash equivalents 10 – 01 – – 11
debt due within one year 106 06 134 73 51 90
debt due after one year 4840 641 2522 2255 104 9080
total net debt 4936 647 2387 2328 155 9159
noncash movements relate to prepaid fees written off on debt reﬁnanced during the year the amortisation of prepaid fees relating to senior secured debt
facilities and the addition of new ﬁnance leases in the year
d exceptional ﬁnancing costs paid
exceptional ﬁnancing costs paid comprise £167m relating to the redemption of the second priority senior secured loan notes due 2014 and £326m
relating to the redemption of nationsrent debt acquired £05m relates to preacquisition interest on the second priority secured notes due 2016
e acquisitions
2007 2006
nationsrent lux total total
£m £m £m £m
cash consideration 3112 158 3270 570
less cashoverdrafts acquired 65 03 62 –
attributable costs paid 61 03 64 –
3108 164 3272 570
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 78 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 79
24 acquisitions 
nationsrent companies inc “nationsrent”
on 31 august 2006 sunbelt acquired the entire issued share capital of nationsrent for a total consideration of 592m plus acquisition costs as part of
the nationsrent acquisition the group has also agreed to pay deferred contingent consideration of up to 89m the amount of the deferred contingent
consideration is linked to the company’s share price performance over the three years from 1 september 2006 to 31 august 2009 in the event that the
company’s share price measured on a ﬁve day average basis rises by more than 222 above the reference price of 204p as adjusted for the bonus
element of the rights issue contingent consideration becomes payable at the rate of 5m for every additional 1 rise in the share price up to a
maximum of 40 above the reference price accordingly deferred contingent consideration starts to become payable when the company’s share price
reaches 250p with the maximum 89m being payable at 286p the contingent consideration is payable on a quarterly basis in cash it is not practicable 
to estimate reliably the amount of contingent consideration which will become payable and accordingly no provision has been made
nationsrent’s revenues and estimated operating proﬁts under ifrs and ashtead group plc speciﬁc accounting policies for the period preacquisition
1 may to 31 august 2006 were 2307m and 192m respectively for the previous full year 1 may 2005 to 30 april 2006 nationsrent’s estimated
revenue and operating proﬁt were 6058m and 149m respectively on the same accounting basis
due to the operational integration of nationsrent and sunbelt since acquisition in particular the movement of rental equipment between proﬁt centres
and the merger of some proﬁt centres it is not practical to report the revenue and proﬁt of the acquired business post acquisition
the provisional goodwill arising on acquisition is as follows
acquiree’s at estimated
book value fair value
£m £m
net assets acquired
inventory 314 280
trade and other receivables 554 544
cash and cash equivalents 65 65
property plant and equipment
– rental equipment 2875 3404
– other assets 451 398
intangible assets – tradename and distribution agreements 43 179
assets held for sale – 311
trade and other payables 857 908
deferred tax liability net of acquired tax losses of £287m 54 292
debt 2200 2326
net assets acquired 1191 1655
consideration paid
cash 3112
amount receivable relating to adjustment to initial consideration 03
directly attributable costs 61
3170
goodwill 1515
the book value of nationsrent in the table above is stated under us gaap on emergence from bankruptcy in 2003 nationsrent adopted “fresh start”
accounting which resulted in a signiﬁcant write down in the carrying value of its assets and liabilities particularly property plant and equipment
accordingly it is not practicable to present the book value of nationsrent’s assets under ifrs
280m of the consideration payable for the ordinary equity share capital of nationsrent was paid at closing to an escrow agent to secure the warranties
and indemnities given by the vendors in the merger agreement 220m has already been released with 215m going to the vendors and 05m returned
to sunbelt the remainder will either be released to the vendors in stages by 31 august 2007 as the related warranties and indemnities expire or will be
used to meet any agreed warranty or indemnity claims
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  12707  1220 pm  page 79 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 80
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
24 acquisitions continued
lux trafﬁc controls limited “lux”
on 16 october 2006 aplant purchased the entire issued share capital of lux for total consideration of £158m and attributable costs of £03m the
acquisition included arrangements for the vendor to acquire from lux for cash immediately after closing assets valued at £03m and consequently before
costs there was a net cash outﬂow of £155m in connection with the acquisition the consideration payable was subject to downwards only adjustment to
the extent that lux’s net assets at closing are less than £425m the necessary closing accounts have now been prepared and agreed with £60000 of the
£05m escrow amount being returned and the balance released to the vendor
the net assets acquired and the goodwill arising on the acquisition are summarised in the table below
acquiree’s
book value at fair value
£m £m
net assets acquired
inventory 03 01
trade and other receivables 24 28
assets acquired by the vendor immediately after closing 03 03
property plant and equipment
– rental equipment 38 42
– other assets 07 05
intangible assets tradenames customer list and noncompetes – 31
trade and other payables 28 28
short term borrowings 03 03
deferred tax liabilities 04 13
debt 02 02
38 64
consideration paid
paid in cash at closing 158
directly attributable costs 03
161
goodwill 97
lux’s revenue and operating proﬁt in the period from 1 may 2006 to 16 october 2006 were £95m and £06m respectively for the same reasons as
nationsrent it is not practical to report the revenue and proﬁt of the acquired business post acquisition
goodwill arising on both the nationsrent and lux acquisitions reﬂects the beneﬁts of the acquisitions arising to the group not reﬂected in the tangible
and identiﬁable intangible assets acquired in the case of nationsrent this reﬂects principally the operational synergies available post acquisition the
intrinsic value of the workforce and the increased opportunities available to sunbelt as a result of its scale similarly for lux it reﬂects the acquired
workforce and the beneﬁts brought to aplant’s business of a leading position in the rental trafﬁc systems market
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 80 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 81
25 contingent liabilities
the group is subject to periodic legal claims in the ordinary course of its business however the claims outstanding at 30 april 2007 net of provisions
held are not expected to have a signiﬁcant impact on the group’s ﬁnancial position
the company has guaranteed the borrowings of its subsidiary undertakings under the group’s senior secured credit and overdraft facilities at 30 april
2007 the amount borrowed under these facilities was £5124m 2006 £2720m additionally subsidiary undertakings are able to obtain letters of credit
under these facilities which are also guaranteed by the company and at 30 april 2007 letters of credit issued under these arrangements totalled £186m
372m additionally the company has guaranteed the 8625 second priority senior secured notes with a par value of 250m £125m and 9 second
priority senior secured notes with a par value of 550m £275m issued by ashtead holdings plc and ashtead capital inc respectively
the company has guaranteed operating and ﬁnance lease commitments of subsidiary undertakings where the minimum lease commitment at 30 april
2007 totalled £694m 2006 £771m in respect of land and buildings and £198m 2006 £190m in respect of other lease rentals of which £53m and
£62m respectively is payable by subsidiary undertakings in the year ending 30 april 2008
the company has guaranteed the performance by subsidiaries of certain other obligations up to £03m 2006 £11m
26 capital commitments
at 30 april 2007 capital commitments in respect of purchases of rental and other equipment totalled £750m 2006 £1190m all of which had been
ordered there were no other material capital commitments at the yearend
27 employees
the average number of employees including directors during the year was as follows
2007 2006
north america 6556 4122
united kingdom 2401 2068
rest of world 11 11
8968 6201
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 81 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 82
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
28 parent company information
a balance sheet of the company ashtead group plc
2007 2006
note £m £m
current assets
prepayments and accrued income 02 05
noncurrent assets
investments in group companies e 3637 2776
total assets 3639 2781
current liabilities 
other taxes and social security – 01
amounts due to subsidiary undertakings 86 622
accruals and deferred income 29 22
115 645
noncurrent liabilities
loan notes 02 02
02 02
total liabilities 117 647
equity shareholders’ funds
share capital g 560 404
share premium account g 33 32
nondistributable reserve g 907 907
own shares held in treasury through the esot g 87 42
distributable reserves g 2109 833
total equity shareholders’ funds 3522 2134
total liabilities and equity shareholders’ funds 3639 2781
these ﬁnancial statements were approved by the board on 25 june 2007
g drabble si robson
chief executive finance director
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 82 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 83
28 parent company information continued
b cash ﬂow statement of the company ashtead group plc
2007 2006
note £m £m
cash ﬂows from operating activities
cash used bygenerated from operations
before exceptional items h 508 636
exceptional items 01 –
cash generated from operations 509 636
financing costs paid – 102
net cash from operating activities 509 534
cash ﬂows from investing activities
increase in investment in subsidiary 861 –
cash ﬂows from ﬁnancing activities
redemption of loans – 1195
purchase of own shares by the esot 49 28
proceeds from issue of ordinary shares 1489 709
dividends paid 70 20
net cash fromused in ﬁnancing activities 1370 534
decrease in cash and cash equivalents – –
c accounting policies
the company ﬁnancial statements have been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in note 1 above supplemented by the policy on
investments set out below
investments in subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost less any necessary provision for impairment in the parent company balance sheetwhere an
investment in a subsidiary is transferred to another subsidiary any uplift in the value at which it is transferred over its carrying value is treated as a
revaluation of the investment prior to the transfer and is credited to the revaluation reserve
d income statement
ashtead group plc has not presented its own proﬁt and loss account as permitted by section 230 3 of the companies act 1985 the amount of the loss
for the ﬁnancial year dealt with in the accounts of ashtead group plc is £06m 2006 loss of £08m
e investments
shares in group companies
£m
at 1 may 2006 2776
additions 861
at 30 april 2007 3637
during the year the company subscribed for 7698414 additional shares in its subsidiary ashtead holdings plc for consideration of £861m the
consideration was satisﬁed in cash using part of the proceeds of the rights issue on 29 august 2006
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 83 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 84
notes to the consolida ted financial st a tements
continued
28 parent company information continued
the company’s principal subsidiaries are
principal country in which
country of subsidiary undertaking
name incorporation operates
ashtead holdings plc england united kingdom
sunbelt rentals inc usa usa
ashtead plant hire company limited england united kingdom
ashtead technology limited scotland united kingdom
ashtead technology south east asia pte limited singapore singapore
ashtead technology inc usa usa
the issued share capital all of which comprises ordinary shares of subsidiaries is 100 owned by the company or by subsidiary undertakings and all
subsidiaries are consolidated the principal activity of ashtead holdings plc is an investment holding company the principal activity of each other
subsidiary undertaking listed above is equipment rental ashtead group plc owns all the issued share capital of ashtead holdings plc which in turn holds 
all of the other subsidiaries listed above except for sunbelt rentals inc and ashtead technology inc which ashtead holdings plc owns indirectly through
another subsidiary undertaking
f financial instruments
the book value and fair value of the company’s ﬁnancial instruments are equal
the company’s ﬁnancial liabilities mature between two and ﬁve years
g reconciliation of changes in shareholders’ funds
own
equity shares
share element of non held in
share premium convertible distributable treasury distributable
capital account loan note reserve esot reserves total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
at 1 may 2005 326 1008 243 – 16 93 1468
total recognised income and expense ––––– 08 08
shares issued 78 662 – 31 – – 709
dividends ––––– 20 20
sharebased payments ––––– 13 13
capital reduction – 1638 – 938 – 700 –
vesting of share awards –––– 02 02 –
own shares purchased –––– 28 – 28
redemption of convertible loan note – – 243 – – 243 –
at 30 april 2006 404 32 – 907 42 833 2134
total recognised income and expense ––––– 06 06
shares issued 156 01––– 1332 1489
dividends ––––– 70 70
sharebased payments ––––– 24 24
vesting of share awards –––– 04 04 –
own shares purchased –––– 49 – 49
at 30 april 2007 560 33 – 907 87 2109 3522
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 84 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 notes to the consolidated financial statements 85
28 parent company information continued
h notes to the company cash ﬂow statement
cash ﬂow from operating activities
2007 2006
£m £m
operating loss 04 02
depreciation 01 01
ebitda 03 01
decrease in receivables 03 03
increase in payables 05 10
decreaseincrease in intercompany payable 536 610
other noncash movement 23 14
net cash outﬂowinﬂow from operations before exceptional items 508 636
reconciliation to net debt
2007 2006
£m £m
net debt at 1 may 02 1206
non cash movement – 525 unsecured convertible loan note due 2008 – 09
decrease in debt through cash ﬂow – 1195
net debt at 30 april 02 02
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 85 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 ten year history 86
ifrs uk gaap
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
in £m
revenue

8961 6380 5237 5003 5395 5837 5520 3024 2560 2025
operating costs
•
5858 4133 3542 3533 3894 3986 3453 1814 1464 1133
ebitda
•
3103 2247 1695 1470 1501 1851 2067 1210 1096 892
depreciation
•
1598 1136 1024 1028 1110 1178 1176 668 633 485
operating proﬁt
•
1505 1111 671 442 391 673 891 542 463 407
interest
•
691 436 447 366 409 491 507 109 77 50
pretax proﬁtloss
•
814 675 224 76 18 182 384 433 386 357
operating proﬁt
•
1011 1245 671 162 06 725 682 571 463 407
pretax lossproﬁt
•
365 817 322 331 422 155 111 462 386 357
net cash ﬂow from 
operating activities 1813 1544 1283 1267 2103 2020 1730 1114 933 776
capital expenditure
•
2902 2202 1384 723 855 1138 2377 1582 1505 1534
book cost of rental equipment
•
14341 9219 8002 8139 9458 9719 9628 6295 5279 3941
shareholders’ funds
•

3967 2583 1099 1318 1594 1929 2021 2368 2075 1513
in pence
dividend per share proposed 165p 150p nil nil nil 350p 350p 316p 270p 230p
earnings per share 08p 135p 52p 99p 95p 11p 65p 118p 113p 92p
underlying earnings per share 103p 113p 32p 07p 04p 137p 92p 118p 113p 96p
in percent
ebitda margin
•
346 352 324 294 278 317 374 400 428 440
operating proﬁt margin
•
168 174 129 88 72 115 161 179 181 201
pretax proﬁtloss margin
•
91 106 48 15 03 31 70 143 167 176
people
employees at yearend 10077 6465 5935 5833 6078 6545 6043 3930 3735 3174
locations
proﬁt centres at yearend 659 413 412 428 449 463 443 352 341 275
the ﬁgures for 2005 2006 and 2007 are reported in accordance with ifrs figures for 2004 and prior are reported under uk gaap and have not been restated in accordance with ifrs
 before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation ebitda operating proﬁt and pretax proﬁtloss are stated before exceptional items but have been adjusted to allocate the impact of the us
accounting issues and the change in self insurance estimation method reported in 2003 to the years to which they relate and to reﬂect the bet usa lease adjustment reported in 2002 in 2001 the
directors believe these adjustments improve comparability between periods
• the results for the years up to 30 april 2000 were restated in 20001 to reﬂect the adoption of new accounting policies and estimation techniques under frs 18 in that year
 shareholders’ funds for the years up to 30 april 2003 were restated in 20034 to reﬂect shares held by the employee share ownership trust as a deduction from shareholders’ funds in accordance with
uitf 38
ten year history
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 86 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 advisers 87
auditors
deloitte  touche llp
hill house
1 little new street
london
ec4a 3tr
registrars  transfer
office
lloyds tsb registrars
the causeway
worthing
west sussex
bn99 6da
financial pr advisers
maitland
orion house
5 upper st martin’s lane
london
wc2h 9ea
solicitors 
slaughter and may
one bunhill row
london
e1y 8yy
skadden arps slate meagher  flom llp
333 west wacker drive
chicago il 60606
parker poe adams  bernstein llp 
three first union center
401 south tryon street
charlotte nc 28202
advisers
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  11707  1146 am  page 87 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 future dates 88
quarter 1 results 4 september 2007
2007 annual general meeting 25 september 2007
quarter 2 results 11 december 2007
quarter 3 results 4 march 2008
quarter 4 and yearend results 24 june 2008
registered number
1807982
registered office
kings house
3637 king street
london
ec2v 8bb
future dates
as6554ashteadbackv4qxd  12707  1216 pm  page 88 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007
at ashtead we enable individuals and businesses
to do more
we are a global leader in the provision of hire
equipment from hand held powered tools 
to aerial platforms we provide solutions and 
systems that support our customers
but above all it is our people that really make 
the difference
1 highlights
2 our business
3 our year in review
4 chairman’s statement
6 chief executive’s statement
14 business and ﬁnancial review
32 board of directors
34 directors’ report
36 corporate governance report
40 directors’ remuneration report
49 independent auditors’ report
50 consolidated income statement
51 consolidated statement of
recognised income and expense
51 consolidated movements in
equity shareholders’ funds
52 consolidated balance sheet
53 consolidated cash ﬂow
statement
54 notes to the consolidated
ﬁnancial statements
86 ten year history
87 advisers
88 future dates
designed and produced by cgi london part of conran design group limited
printed in the uk by mpgimpressions
this report is printed utilising vegetable based inks on regency satin paper which is produced with virgin ecf
ﬁbre from sustainable forests independently certiﬁed according to the rules of the forest stewardship council
as6554ashteadcoversv1qxd  12707  1153 am  page 2 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007
doing more
ashtead group plc
kings house
3637 king street
london
ec2v 8bb
wwwashteadgroupcom
ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007
t 44 0 20 7726 9700
as6554ashteadcoversv1qxd  12707  1153 am  page 1


Summary:
 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 6
a year of transition and growth
i am delighted to be presenting my ﬁrst annual report as the new chief
executive of ashtead following the retirement of george burnett george
made an enormous contribution to ashtead over 22 years and on behalf 
of all ashtead employees i would like to thank him for his unstinting
dedication to the group having joined ashtead as a nonexecutive director
in april 2005 and become chief executive designate in october 2006 i was
fortunate to have the opportunity of working alongside george to ensure
management continuity and a seamless transition
the year also saw a change in chairman following the sad and untimely
death of cob stenham cob will be greatly missed by us all both for his
professional drive and knowledge and the personal ﬂair that he brought 
to the business in chris cole however we have gained a chairman with 
a deep understanding of construction markets as a result of his position 
as chief executive of wsp group plc together with extensive experience 
of ashtead and its management team having been a director since 
january 2002
growth from both organic revenue improvement and acquisition form 
key elements of our strategy and 20067 saw notable activity our group
revenue for the year was £896m up 40 on the £638m reported last year
during the year we enjoyed organic growth in all markets through a
combination of good overall market conditions and market share gains in
addition the group moved forward signiﬁcantly with the acquisition of us
rental company nationsrent in august 2006 for 1bn creating the second
largest rental company both in the us and globally serving principally the
nonresidential construction market october 2006’s £155m acquisition of
lux trafﬁc controls in the uk and its immediate integration with aplant’s
existing trafﬁc management operations makes us the largest provider of
rental trafﬁc systems in the uk
chief executive’s statement
ashtead aims to be a leader in the global equipment rental business
delivering strong returns for its investors through the exploitation of
growth opportunities and by being world class at what we dowe aim to
achieve these objectives by generating strong organic growth combined
with growth through acquisition as well as delivering high levels of
customer satisfaction
geoff drabble
chief executive
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 6 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 7
the nationsrent acquisition
the acquisition of nationsrent provided a unique opportunity to make 
a step change in the size of the group in north america the acquisition
provided scale with very little overlap at proﬁt centre level and allowed 
us to accelerate our clustering principle in key markets such as florida
texas and california in addition it provided us with access to new markets
particularly in the us north east and upper mid west
both businesses used the same computerised point of sale operating
system and the age and composition of their ﬂeet was similar to our 
ownwe were conﬁdent that our business model based around highly
incentivised proﬁt centres operating with a large amount of autonomy
would improve the ﬁnancial return from the nationsrent assets also
signiﬁcant recurring cost savings were available from integrating central 
and regional functions
to date we have achieved all our milestones in terms of the integration and
we enter the new ﬁnancial year with a single business focused on further
organic growth the acquisition was funded by a rights issue which raised
approximately £150m drawings under a new 175bn senior secured credit
facility and 550m of new senior loan notes
delivering profitable growth
underlying operating proﬁt at £1505m was up 355 on the £1111m
reported last year on a pro forma basis operating proﬁt was up 340 to
£1612m reﬂecting the 38 increase in the number of shares outstanding
following august’s rights issue we achieved underlying earnings per share 
of 103p 2006 113p
all three divisions sunbelt aplant and ashtead technology saw good
organic growth in both revenue and underlying operating proﬁtwhilst
there are differences in the geographies and markets they serve the rental
business model is the same
there were signiﬁcant exceptional costs fair value remeasurements 
and intangible amortisation totalling £1179m 2006 credit of £142m
the majority of these costs were associated with the funding of the
nationsrent transaction and realising the synergy beneﬁts available from
the acquisition as all of the structural integration activity is now complete
we do not expect any further exceptional costs associated with this
transaction in 20078
net borrowings at the yearend were £9159m 2006 £4936mwe have
stated our policy of managing our ﬁnancial structure to sustain a net debt
to ebitda ratio in the range of 2 to 3 times in most circumstances as a
result of the acquisition we reached temporarily the upper end of this
range by yearend we were at 27 times and anticipate reaching the
midpoint of the range based on normal operational activity in 20078
maintaining the momentum of the group
we expect to continue to develop the group through a combination of
organic growth and acquisition while ensuring we have both the ﬁnancial
and managerial resource to execute and integrate an acquisition successfully
realising the organic growth potential from the acquired nationsrent
assets will remain a key area of focus in 2008 utilising the reconﬁgured
ﬂeet we intend to access a broader customer base than just the pure 
nonresidential contractor which will allow us to both develop new higher
return markets and provide an important breadth of revenue generation
sunbelt’s underlying pro forma
operating proﬁt
272m
up 43
aplant’s underlying pro forma
operating proﬁt
£21m
up 40
ashtead t echnology’s 
operating proﬁt
£6m
up 57 at constant
exchange rates
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 7 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 8
aplant is positioned for yet further improvement its existing momentum
will be supported by further investment in ﬂeet and an improved proﬁt
centre infrastructure in april we began to implement a new investment
programme for aplant this will involve the restructuring of its proﬁt centre
infrastructure over the coming year to create fewer larger sites with higher
levels of activity these larger pools of equipment and staff will improve
operational efﬁciency and enable aplant to meet the needs of its
customers better an exceptional charge of £62m was recorded in the
fourth quarter in respect of principally vacant premises costs at the proﬁt
centres which will be closed as a result of the new investment plan
ashtead technology will continue to develop both its onshore and offshore
markets which remain strong in offshore as well as the traditionally strong
markets in the north sea and the gulf of mexicowest africa and asia are
becoming increasingly important the need for oil and gas exploration to
access deeper waters together with the development of new ﬁelds will
continue to provide opportunities for future growththe onshore markets in
both environmental monitoring and nondestructive testing are developing
well additionally the aging of production assets and increasing health and
safety requirements in the offshore oil industry will also drive higher levels
of maintenance from which we should beneﬁt finally there is a signiﬁcant
opportunity to leverage the onshore business through sunbelt’s locations
and industrial customers
acquisitions have been and will continue to form a key part of our
strategy acquisitions are made to expand both our geographic footprint
and the range of products which we offerwe bring value to our
acquisitions by introducing our successful business model and providing 
the beneﬁt of scalewhen appropriate we will continue to look for 
valueenhancing bolton acquisitions to support our clusters in existing
geographieswe will look also to develop our specialist businesses following
the successful acquisition of lux trafﬁc controls the leading player in the
niche uk trafﬁc market our specialist businesses generate higher added
value as our customer base looks to outsource their planning and technical
requirements as well as renting equipment
we are a service business and we differentiate ourselves by the strength of
our service offering central to our service offering are our people and our
systemswe now have a 10000 strong ashtead team the nature of our
business requires skilled entrepreneurial individuals working within a highly
devolved structurewe achieve this through a dedication to training and 
an industry leading reward and recognition scheme the industry generally
suffers from high staff turnover particularly within certain job categories
and within the ﬁrst year of employmentwe have made good progress in
improving our staff retention in recent years with a lower level of leavers as
shown in the chart opposite this will remain a key performance indicator
going forward
chief executive’s statement
continued
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 8 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 chief executive’s statement 9
we place signiﬁcant importance on the use of systems to improve our
efﬁciency for example each of our divisions operates integrated on line
point of sale systems which provide signiﬁcant advantages to our
employees and customers due to the visibility these single companywide
systems provide our extranets allow key aspects of the customer
relationship to be managed electronically in addition in the uk our on line
telematics and tracking system enables qualifying customers to see exactly
where major items of equipment are at any time including if they have
been stolen already there have been many instances where these tracking
devices have facilitated swift recovery in the event of theft saving our
customers the cost of providing us with a replacement for the lost item
information technology will play an even greater role in rental in the future
driven by the need to minimise transportation costs and the need for
enhanced asset visibility major projects such as the 2012 olympics will
accelerate this change ashtead is at the forefront of these changes and 
we will continue to use our technology as a differentiator
employees
ashtead is a leader in its industry because of its people and i would like to
thank all our employees for their hard work and dedication our employees
are often called upon to help our customers and their management teams
through difﬁcult situations whether that be providing crucial equipment at
short notice or getting a facility up and running again after a major incident
such as water damagethe pride and passion demonstrated by our employees
makes our customers know they can depend on us to get things moving
outlook
across the group the business has developed well in the past year and the
nationsrent acquisition provides continuing opportunity from integration
beneﬁts and positions us well for further growth the markets for all three
divisions remain strong and the drive to rental due to both the ﬁnancial
and operational beneﬁts of outsourcing will continue particularly in north
america given the success of the nationsrent integration to date we are
well positioned to achieve further progress in the coming year ashtead 
will remain focused on delivery of our objective of creating and growing
shareholder value
geoff drabble
chief executive
25 june 2007
05
410
05
331
06
323
306
06 07 07
292
259
employee turnover 
aplant
sunbelt ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 10
getting things going
again after a disaster
after a hurricane a ﬁre a ﬂood or any kind of disaster we can respond immediately and provide the
equipment and expertise required to clean up provide power and get the disaster recovery moving
ahead at full steamwhen a four storey apartment building in boston caught ﬁre sunbelt received a
friday night call for help on saturday morning sunbelt delivered critical equipment the contractors
needed to begin the recovery process from the damage caused by the ﬁre smoke and water used to
extinguish the ﬁre and dampen the job site equipment included aerial man lifts dehumidiﬁers and
generators to supply the power required for lighting ventilation and interior remediation and
restoration equipment one call was all it took to initiate the entire effort
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 10 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 11
facilitating major events
ashtead is often asked to provide the behindthescenes equipment without which many major
events would never happenwe rent a wide variety of equipment used at rock concerts music
festivals sporting events and many other venues in charlotte north carolina sunbelt plays a 
critical role in race week which culminates in nascar’s longest race the cocacola 600with over
150000 fans the cocacola 600 is one of the most popular races in the nextel cup series each
year lowe’s motor speedway relies on sunbelt because they count on its range of equipment and
the unparalleled level of service they receive
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1154 am  page 11 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 12
supporting the
redevelopment of
london’s oldest hospitals
following the award by the uk government of the largest ever public finance initiative contract
rather than maintain and service all the necessary equipment themselves the contractor turned 
to aplant to fulﬁl this role the 10 year project to redevelop st bartholomew’s and royal london
hospitals involves investment of more than £1bn aplant will be on site permanently during the
project allowing equipment needs to be fulﬁlled quickly through one point of contact whether the
equipment is for the main contractor or their subcontractors as well as providing heavy construction
equipment aplant is also supplying the personal protection equipment for workers on the site their
goggles hard hats and gloves to ensure this major project beneﬁts from the full range of our services
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  12707  1251 pm  page 12 ashtead group plc annual report and accounts 2007 13
enabling our
customers to
control traffic
our aplant lux trafﬁc division is the uk leader in providing
trafﬁc control solutions on a rental basiswhether our
customer needs a single set of trafﬁc lights or a complex high
speed trafﬁc management system we provide a complete
service from beginning to endwe can be called upon to 
carry out a risk assessment on site prepare scale drawings
and submit the necessary documents to the local authority
for approval prior to installing the necessary equipment
monitoring it throughout the life of the project and
dismantling it at the end safety is a critical component of
trafﬁc management and our customers look to us to help
them ensure everything works smoothly our inhouse training
has proved so effective that we now provide it to outside
organisations including the highways agency major utilities
civil engineering contractors and even police authorities
as6554ashteadfrontv4qxd  11707  1155 am  page 13