26 August 2025

Ashtead Technology Holdings plc

("Ashtead Technology", the "Company" or the "Group")

Unaudited Half Year Results for the Six-Months Ended 30 June 2025

Strong profitability with robust market fundamentals underpinning medium and long-term confidence. Move to Main Market expected on 6 October

Ashtead Technology Holdings plc (AIM: AT.), a leading provider of subsea technology solutions to the global offshore energy sector, announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2025 ("HY25" or "the period").

Financial Performance (£'m)

HY25 summary

·      Revenue for the period increased by 23.2% to £99.1m

o  22.7% inorganic growth⁶

o  -0.8% FX impact

o  1.3% organic growth

·      Focus on high quality rental activities drove strong Adjusted EBITA margin performance of 27.3%

·      Continued growth from both oil and gas (£73.7m of revenues) and renewables markets (£25.4m of revenues)

·      Strong compounding adjusted EPS growth of 14.5%

·      Net cash generated from operating activities of £21.1m, up from £9.7m in HY24

·      ROIC significantly ahead of cost of capital at 24.2%

·      Focus on deleveraging, targeting proforma net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage of 1.4x by end of FY25

Operational Highlights

·      Integration of Seatronics and J2 Subsea acquisitions completed in November 2024 has delivered higher operational synergies quicker than initially expected

·      Continuing to strengthen the business and investing in talent, technology and geographic diversification in preparation for continued growth:

o  Senior leadership appointments made in Mechanical Solutions, IT and QHSE

o  Capex investment in technology portfolio to strengthen market leading proposition

o  Expansion of Mechanical Solutions offering in the US with the opening of a new facility in Houston primarily to localise and strengthen the Group's Lifting, Pulling and Deployment capabilities in the region

o  Expanding Norwegian Survey and Robotics business trading ahead of expectations

Outlook

·      Board expectations remain in line with those set out in the trading update of 17 July 2025

·      Continued confidence in medium term outlook with Rystad Energy forecasting 8% CAGR in Ashtead Technology's total addressable market in the period 2024-2028

·      Confidence underpinned by customers' significant backlogs

·      Move from AIM to Main Market expected on 6 October 2025

Allan Pirie, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The Group has continued to deliver strong profitability and year-on-year growth despite some market and geopolitical headwinds during the period. While this business environment somewhat tempered activity and led to a slower seasonal ramp up of revenues through Q2, we have been able to continue to strengthen our business, execute on our long-term strategy and focus on driving enhanced quality of earnings. Key projects delayed by our customers in HY25 have now mobilised giving us additional confidence in delivering growth in the second half. Globally, our customers continue to report sustained record backlogs supported by significant contract awards in the period. This, together with strong market fundamentals, underlines our confidence in the ongoing demand for Ashtead Technology's specialist technology solutions. We remain confident and committed to our long-term strategy for the business.

"Following our previous announcements and after extensive shareholder consultation, the Board is pleased to confirm its intention to move the Company's listing to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange expected on 6 October 2025. The Board believes that the greater liquidity and broader access to international investors offered by the Main Market will provide an excellent platform for the next phase of Ashtead Technology's growth strategy implementation."

Presentation

Allan Pirie, Chief Executive Officer and Ingrid Stewart, Chief Financial Officer, will host an in-person presentation for analysts and institutional investors at 8.00am BST today.

A live webcast will also be available for those who wish to join the presentation virtually. Please contact ashteadtechnology@dgagroup.com to attend in person or to register for the webcast use the following link:

https://stream.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/68594d9f379f8200134f2459

A replay of the analyst presentation will subsequently be made available to watch on demand at www.ashtead-technology/investors.

-Ends-

¹Adjusted EBITA is defined as operating profit adjusted to add back amortisation, foreign exchange movements and non-trading items as shown in Note 19 of the HY25 accounts

²Adjusted Earnings per Share uses Adjusted profit after tax which is defined as profit after tax adjusted to add back amortisation, foreign exchange movements and non-trading items, and the tax impact thereof, as shown in Note 19 of the HY25 accounts

³Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) is defined as LTM⁵ Adjusted EBITA divided by Invested Capital. Invested Capital is defined as average net debt plus average equity over last 12 months.  HY24 calculation restated from 6-months invested capital to 12 to align calculation with full year

⁴Proforma Leverage is defined as net debt divided by LTM Adjusted Proforma EBITDA

⁵LTM is defined as latest twelve months to 30 June 2025

⁶ Inorganic growth calculation inclusive of planned reduction in equipment sales within acquired business

Notes to editors:

Ashtead Technology is a leading subsea technology solutions provider to the global offshore energy sector. Ashtead Technology's specialist equipment, advanced-technologies and support services enable its customers to address the complex challenges of constructing, developing, inspecting, maintaining, repairing and decommissioning critical offshore energy infrastructure.

With a diverse portfolio and flexible delivery model, around 85% of Ashtead Technology's equipment fleet of over 30,000 assets are applicable across the lifecycle of both offshore oil and gas infrastructure and offshore renewables.

Headquartered in the UK, Ashtead Technology operates globally, servicing customers from its facilities located in key offshore energy hubs. To learn more, please visit www.ashtead-technology.com

CEO Statement

After an encouraging start to the year, Ashtead Technology experienced a slower seasonal ramp up in activity through Q2. This resulted in first half revenues being below our initial expectations for the period at £99.1m. In absolute terms, the business grew its revenue by 23.2% with the reduced revenue growth influenced by a number of external factors including the US administration's policies on tariffs and offshore wind development, military activity in the Middle East and US dollar FX movements. In addition, the Group proactively reduced its exposure to lower margin activities such as cross-hire and third-party equipment sales which were particularly prevalent within the Seatronics business acquired in November 2024.

Continued strength in market outlook

Despite the headwinds witnessed through HY25, the market fundamentals for our business remain strong. Key customer projects delayed and suspended through HY25 have now mobilised and our customers continue to report sustained, record project backlogs, and have secured significant contracts in the first half of the year. This underpins our confidence in the demand for Ashtead Technology's specialist services and solutions.

Ashtead Technology's addressable market is forecast to grow by an 8% CAGR in the period 2024 through 2028. Offshore oil and gas activity is forecast to grow by 4% with significant levels of activity in areas such as the Middle East, Norway and South America.  Average annual sanctioned greenfield spend is expected to increase to $106bn during this period, while 48% of forecast subsea spend in 2028 is driven by projects that have already reached Final Investment Decision (FID) phase, providing a supportive market backdrop for many years to come.

The offshore wind market is forecast to grow at a 15% CAGR and the decommissioning market is forecast to grow at a 14% CAGR.  HY25 has seen strong FID activity in offshore wind despite a challenging market environment, with Europe FID in 2025 YTD reaching 5.7GW, having already surpassed 2024 volumes.  This market growth gives us confidence in the scale of the opportunity ahead and the attractive structural growth drivers in our end markets.

We continue to capitalise on the flexibility and fungibility of our specialist solutions, responding to customer demand in an agile way and using our global footprint to deploy our solutions in the areas of greatest market activity. This creates inherent resilience and means we can pivot our business quickly to support the full field lifecycle of subsea infrastructure.

M&A integrated at pace

The Seatronics and J2 Subsea businesses, which were acquired in late November 2024, have been rapidly integrated into the wider Group, delivering higher synergies, faster than anticipated at the time of the transaction. This demonstrates the Group's proven track record of successful M&A integration, validating our One Ashtead Technology approach.

Strengthening our differentiated offering

We continue to invest in our state of the art, fungible technology fleet, strengthen our geographic presence and focus on deepening our talent pool to enhance our competitive advantages and to better support our customers with their mission-critical subsea operations.

£19.4m of capex was deployed into the equipment rental fleet through HY25, adding cutting edge technologies to our Survey and Robotics service line as well as expanding our technology development programmes within our Mechanical Solutions and Asset Integrity service lines. Our FY25 capex spend is expected to be c.£35m.

In the period, the Group expanded its regional footprint, opening a new Mechanical Solutions facility in Houston which will serve as a hub for the expansion of our Mechanical Solutions service line in the Americas including localisation of the Group's Lifting, Pulling and Deployment capability in the region.

We continue to gain traction in Norway, capitalising on a buoyant market in the region. We have seen revenue more than double in our Norwegian business through HY25 and continue to position ourselves for further growth in this market.

Investing in talent has also been a feature of the first half of the year. In addition to investing in our technician pool including the recruitment of 14 new trainees globally as we continue to grow our own talent, we have made several new leadership appointments to strengthen our global business. Key appointments include the Head of Mechanical Solutions, QHSE Director and Chief Information Officer. Together, these roles will help to further strengthen our focus on safety, enhance our customer offering, drive growth and increase consistency and efficiency across the Group.

Move to the Main Market

Following our previous announcements, the Board is pleased to confirm its intention to move the Company's listing to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange expected on 6 October 2025. Once complete, the Board believes that the greater liquidity and broader access to international investors offered by the Main Market will provide an excellent platform for the next phase of Ashtead Technology's growth strategy implementation.

Outlook

The macro and geopolitical volatility experienced through HY25 has created market headwinds which were reflected in the trading update provided in July. We remain confident in our ability to execute on our strategy and based on current trading levels and market outlook through the remainder of the year, we are confident of delivering an outturn in line with the Board's expectations. 

Allan Pirie

Chief Executive Officer

CFO Statement

Our HY25 results were impacted by market headwinds created by geopolitical and economic uncertainties, and, after a solid Q1, we saw a slower seasonal ramp up in revenues in Q2. Our revenue in HY25 was £99.1m, a 23.2% increase on the prior year, with inorganic growth of 22.7%, FX headwinds of -0.8% and organic growth of 1.3%.

Revenue growth across all of our regions was supported by the acquisitions of Seatronics and J2 Subsea in November 2024 which added significant scale to our business. Whilst year-on-year growth within our Americas business was 15%, this region fell significantly short of expectations in HY25 due to a combination of the cessation of work on US offshore wind projects resulting from the new US administration's change in energy policy and the introduction of US tariffs which caused a pause in investment decisions and delayed decision making by operators and customers. Our other regions saw higher revenue growth on the prior year with Europe growing 17% and APAC growing 70%. The Middle East grew 44% despite a slight trading interruption in June as a result of military activity in the region.

A deliberate focus on quality of earnings saw a faster than expected reduction in third party equipment sales from the acquired Seatronics business. This contributed to the lower-than-expected revenues but supported a strong Group margin performance with an EBITDA margin of 38.7% and an EBITA margin of 27.3%.

Expenses

The Group has changed the presentation of expenses in its income statement to enhance the reader's understanding of the operations and performance of the Group through providing more relevant information on the face of the income statement.

External costs directly relating to revenue of £25.7m compares to £19.5m in HY24 with the increase being representative of the increased revenues in the period.

Staff costs of £27.5m represent 27.8% of revenues compares to £23.9m or 29.7% of revenues in HY24. Employee numbers at the end of June 2025 were 637 compared to 650 at December 2024 reflecting rationalisation of the employee base since the year end following the integration of Seatronics and J2 Subsea.

Other operating costs of £9.5m compares to £6.6m in HY24 with the largest increase coming from facility costs, insurance and IT costs commensurate with a larger business. Some of these costs are expected to reduce through the second half of the year as the synergies achieved through the Seatronics and J2 Subsea integration are fully realised.

Profitability

The Group achieved operating profit of £23.2m (HY24: £20.6m). This includes c. £0.6m of exceptional costs in the period, predominantly relating to acquisition integration and professional fees relating to the move from AIM to the Main Market. 

Adjusted EBITA of £27.0m (HY24: £22.6m) represents an EBITA margin of 27.3% compared to 28.1% in HY24. The EBITA margin achieved through H1 was ahead of our expectations with the decrease on HY24 on a reported basis due to the impact of adding Seatronics and J2 Subsea into the Group. 

ROIC remains significantly ahead of our cost of capital at 24.2% with the reduction since year end being the result of the increased invested capital owing to the timing of the Seatronics and J2 Subsea transaction.

Net finance costs of £5.4m compares to £3.0m in HY24 with the increase being the result of funding the Seatronics and J2 Subsea acquisitions entirely from RCF.

Adjusted Profit Before Tax of £21.6m compares to £19.6m in HY24, an increase of 10%.

The tax provision for the period was £3.9m (HY24: £4.3m) representing an effective tax rate of 22.0% (HY24: 24.2%), a decrease on prior year due to a higher proportion of profits being generated in lower tax jurisdictions.

Adjusted basic earnings per share of 21.9p compares to 19.1p in HY24, an increase of 14.5%.

Cash flow and balance sheet

Net cash generated from operating activities was £21.1m, up from £9.7m in HY24. Working capital represented 17% of proforma TTM (trailing twelve months) revenues compared to 14% at June 2024 and 16% at December 2024. Our increase in stock during the period follows a period of investment in our manipulator repair and cable moulding offerings which we acquired through the Seatronics and J2 Subsea transaction.

Overall net debt of £131.9m is higher than the prior year owing to funding of the Seatronics and J2 Subsea transaction and represents leverage of 1.6x on a proforma basis. With a disciplined focus on cash management, we anticipate that leverage will reduce to around 1.4x by year end.

Continued investment in our equipment fleet has resulted in an increase in fixed asset net book value (NBV) from £87.3m at FY24 to £95.9m. Overall net assets increased to £137.9m, up £10.5m on FY24.

Our full year dividend for 2024 was paid in May 2025 and in line with previous periods the Group's capital allocation policy remains unchanged with a focus on organic and inorganic investment in growth.  Consistent with the prior year, the Board has not recommended an interim dividend for HY25. In line with previous guidance the Board intends to continue its small, progressive dividend policy.

Ingrid Stewart

Chief Financial Officer

RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT OF THE DIRECTORS IN RESPECT OF THE

HALF-YEARLY FINANCIAL REPORT

The Directors of Ashtead Technology Holdings plc (set out on page 36 and 37 of the latest Annual Report and Accounts) confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

•          the condensed consolidated set of financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting as adopted for use in the UK;

•          the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by:

(i)      DTR 4.2.7R of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year and their impact on the condensed consolidated set of financial statements; and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year; and

(ii)     DTR 4.2.8R of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, being related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the current financial year and that have materially affected the financial position or performance of the entity during that period; and any changes in the related party transactions described in the last annual report that could do so.

By order of the Board of Directors

Consolidated income statement

for the six-month period ended 30 June 2025

^          Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, foreign exchange gains and losses, and items considered one-off in nature, is an Alternative Profit Measure used by management and is not an IFRS disclosure.  See Note 19 to the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for calculations.

^^         Adjusted EBITA is calculated as earnings before interest, tax, amortisation, foreign exchange gains and losses, and items  considered one-off in nature, is an Alternative Profit Measure used by management and is not an IFRS disclosure.  See Note 19 to the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for calculations.

^^^       Adjusted Profit Before Tax is calculated as profit before tax adjusted for amortisation, foreign exchange gains and losses, and items considered one-off in nature, is an Alternative Profit Measure used by management and is not an IFRS disclosure.  See Note 19 to the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for calculations.

^^^^     Adjusted Profit After Tax is calculated as profit after tax adjusted for amortisation, foreign exchange gains and losses, and items considered one-off in nature, all adjusted for tax, is an Alternative Profit Measure used by management and is not an IFRS disclosure.  See Note 19 to the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for calculations.

All results derive from continuing operations.

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the six-month period ended 30 June 2025