Shock to UK, huge ashtray heads rented to US as equipment

Equipment hire giant Ashtead plans to move its primary stock market listing to the US in a fresh blow to the London Stock Exchange.

It said the US was a “natural long-term listing venue” because most of its profits were in North America, along with its owners, headquarters and most of its employees.

Ashtead is the latest of several large companies to be delisted from the London Stock Exchange in recent years. Which denied that it was in trouble in May.

Ashtead said it would discuss its proposed move with shareholders before voting on it.

The company aims to move its primary listing to the US over the next 12 to 18 months, but will maintain its UK listing as an international company.

The construction equipment rental company has more than 25,000 employees.

Ashtead said annual profits would be lower than expected due to “local commercial construction market dynamics in the US”, which would impact rental sales growth.

Companies worth hundreds of billions of pounds have been leaving the London Stock Exchange and moving to the US over the past few years, raising concerns about how attractive Britain is for investment.

These include Cambridge-based microchip giant ARM Holdings, which now sells its shares in New York, and Paddy Power owner Flutter.