CRH posts record H1 earnings

723 CRH, the Ireland-headquartered global building materials group, has posted record first half-year EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation & Amortisation) of €1.54 billion, 36% up on H1 2018. The Group also increased its H1 2019 sales by 11% to €13.2bn. The period under review saw CRH divest €2bn of its assets and spend €500mn on acquisitions. Meanwhile, the Group-wide profit improvement programme is said to be progressing well.

Commenting on the latest trading figures, Albert Manifold, CRH chief executive, said: “On the back of our strategic initiatives, CRH has delivered significant profit growth in the first half of 2019, with a good performance in our heritage business and strong contributions from recent acquisitions. We are pleased to report that the Board plans to continue our share buyback programme with a further tranche of €350 million to be completed by year end. This will bring our total share repurchases in 2019 to €900 million. With our continued strong cash generation and financial discipline, we expect year-end debt metrics to be below normalised levels. We anticipate further progress in the second half of the year with benefits from positive underlying momentum in all Divisions as well as good contributions from acquisitions.”