Harsh winter weather and record rainfall didn't stop CRH (CRH) delivering a solid performance for the year to December 2018, with organic sales in its Americas materials division growing by 4 per cent, and 2 per cent in the Americas products division.
The materials division pushed operating profits ahead by 18 per cent to €1bn (£859m) and this would have been even higher but for cost inflation, notably in bitumen prices. Ready-mixed concrete volumes grew by 29 per cent, mainly as a result of acquisitions, although like-for-like volumes were hit by the bad weather. The products side was underpinned by solid housebuilding activity, notably on the west coast, and while overall volumes were affected by the weather, price increases and operational efficiencies helped to deliver an improvement in margins.
Total sales in Europe were up by 4 per cent, split evenly between organic growth and acquisitions. Most of this growth came from its mainland Europe operations, while conditions in the UK remained more of a challenge due to Brexit uncertainties.
And in another year of active portfolio management, around €3.6bn was spent on making 46 acquisitions, partly funded by asset disposals of €3bn. The most significant purchase was Ash Grove Cement, which means CRH is now market leader in the US cement market.
| CRH (CRH) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 2,376p | MARKET VALUE: | £19.3bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,375-2,377p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,891p | LOW: 1,961p
|
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.6% | PE RATIO: | 9 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 1,975¢* | NET DEBT | 42% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (€bn) | Pre-tax profit (€bn) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2014 | 18.9 | 0.76 | 79 | 62.5 |
| 2015 | 23.6 | 1.03 | 89 | 62.5 |
| 2016 | 24.8 | 1.62 | 150 | 65 |
| 2017 | 25.2 | 1.87 | 227 | 68 |
| 2018 | 26.8 | 1.86 | 302 | 72 |
| % change | +6 | - | +33 | +6 |
| Ex-div: | 14 Mar | |||
| Payment: | 30 Apr | |||
| £1=€1.164 *Includes intangible assets of €8.4bn, or 1,039¢ per share | ||||
