Ashtead raises full year expectations after strong Q3

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - British industrial equipment hire group Ashtead raised its full year expectations on Tuesday after posting a 33 percent rise in quarterly profits on strong demand in the United States and Britain.

The company, which rents everything from small tools to large diggers and water pumps, said pretax profits rose to 113.9 million pounds ($175 million) for the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared to 80.4 million pounds for the same period a year earlier.

"We now anticipate a full year result ahead of our previous expectations," Ashtead's chief executive Geoff Drabble said in a statement. ($1 = 0.6497 pounds) (Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; editing by Sarah Young)