CRH (CRH) revealed record cash profits of €1.54bn for the half-year to June 2019 – up by 36 per cent, or by nearly a fifth excluding new accounting rules pertaining to leases. The building materials group attributed this growth in part to margin-enhancing acquisitions – signalling good progress on its portfolio management strategy. It spent around €320m on acquisitions and investment transactions over the six months, and a further €150m post-period-end. The bottom line benefited from £171m in proceeds from disposals.
A robust economic environment across the pond was tempered by poor weather in some regions, knocking activity levels. For the Americas materials division, like-for-like sales rose by 2 per cent. By comparison, European materials benefitted from more typical climatic conditions, after weather challenges during last year’s first half. Like-for-like sales here climbed by 6 per cent, with cash profits up 2 per cent – helped by price improvements, but hindered by dwindling construction activity in the UK due to Brexit uncertainty. Building products was the star performer by earnings – with like-for-like cash profits up 8 per cent, on sales growth of 3 per cent – thanks to better volumes and prices.
Broker Goodbody expects adjusted EPS of 218¢ for 2019, up from 185¢ in 2018.
CRH (CRH) | ||||
ORD PRICE: | 2,667p | MARKET VALUE: | £21.3bn | |
TOUCH: | 2,666-2,668p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,768p | LOW: 1,961p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 2,030¢* | NET DEBT: | 63% |
Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (€bn) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
2018 | 11.9 | 497 | 45.0 | 19.6 |
2019 | 13.2 | 707 | 67.8 | 20.0 |
% change | +11 | +42 | +51 | +2 |
Ex-div: | 05 Sep | |||
Payment: | 25 Sep | |||
*Includes intangible assets of €8.5bn, or 1,070¢ a share £1=€1.1 |