CRH: Mild European winter spells profit for Irish building materials group
CRH, the Irish building materials group, has announced a 27 per cent increase in earnings for the first six months of the year.
The FTSE 100 company's adjusted earnings rose to €505m, up from last year's figure of €397m, while profit before tax of €61m represented a massive turnaround on a €71m loss in the first six months of 2013.
The building materials giant's business was hurt by a freezing European winter in 2012-2013, but has bounced back remarkably well following thanks to a mild European winter in 2013-2014 and growth in the Americas where adjusted earnings rose 21 per cent.
The company has also reported a four per cent increase in sales revenue for the period, and has revealed it will maintain the 2014 interim dividend at last year's level of 18.5c per share.
CRH chief executive Albert Manifold said:
2014 got off to an encouraging start with favourable weather in Europe and continuing recovery in the US.We are pleased with the strong operating leverage which is reflected in margin improvement for the period.Economic indicators continue to be positive in the Americas, while in Europe we have seen some easing of trends in recent months.Assuming normal weather patterns and no major market dislocations, and with the benefit of contributions from acquisitions and cost saving measures, we continue to expect second-half Group EBITDA to be somewhat ahead of last year (€1.08 bn).