6th May 2015 06:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish building materials company CRH PLC Wednesday predicted strong growth in operating earnings in the first half of 2015 and further growth in the second half, even when its expected acquisition of business from Lafarge SA and Holcim Ltd are excluded, as it got off to a "satisfactory" start to the year.
In a statement, the company said it expects to deliver growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of close to 10% on a constant currency basis in the first half of the year and then "further progress" in the more important second half of the year.
It reported Ebitda from continuing operations of EUR460 million in the first half of 2014 and EUR1.08 billion in the second half.
That prediction, which excludes the operations it is buying from Lafarge and Holcim as they combine in a merger, came after it said sales from continuing operations were up 2.5% in the four months to end-April, excluding businesses it has sold and measured at constant currencies.
It said it has seen further positive momentum in the Americas, with sales up 8%, while trends in Europe are improving as it reported a 2% sales decline for the region.
CRH has continued to revamp its portfolio of businesses, raising proceeds of EUR0.54 billion through sales in the first four months of the year. That brings proceeds since its started the divestment programme last August to EUR0.9 billion. It also bought businesses for a combined EUR45 million in the first four months of 2015, mainly bolt-on transactions in North America.
The company also said it remains on track to deliver a further EUR75 million of cost savings in 2015.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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