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Acquisitions boost CRH

Nearly €8bn of acquisitions last year are helping to boost growth at CRH
November 21, 2016

CRH (CRH) continues to benefit from strength in US markets, which is where the building materials group generates more than half its revenue, and is on target to push cash profits for the year ending December 2016 to above €3bn (£2.56bn).

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A string of acquisitions boosted sales in the first nine months of the year, up 22 per cent to €20.4bn, but even on a like-for-like basis sales were ahead by 6 per cent. Assuming that there are no more disposals (around €163m in the first nine months) or acquisitions, net debt is expected to fall from €6.6bn last year to €6bn, with a target of reducing net debt to less than twice cash profits.

As well as a solid performance in US markets, trading in Europe continued to build on the recovery seen in many key markets, with heavy-side product sales up 8 per cent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, while light-side revenue was up 4 per cent.