CRH CEO Albert Manifold has praised the global building materials giant’s robust performance during a period of significant COVID-19-induced disruption but has warned of continuing marketplace uncertainty.
Manifold spoke after Dublin, Ireland-headquartered CRH posted a modest 3% year-on-year drop in like-for-like sales revenue for the first half of this year to US$12.2bn. The group achieved record cash generation in the six months, further underpinning its financial strength and flexibility. There was also a $3.8bn improvement in CRH debt; with $10bn of available liquidity. CRH EBITDA was up 2% in H1 2020 to $1.6bn.
“Our first-half performance is testament to the hard work and dedication of all our people during a very challenging and uncertain period,” said Manifold. “As ever, health and safety is our number one priority, and our primary focus is to provide a safe working environment for all our employees. As a group, we took swift and comprehensive action in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and our ability to flex our cost base and deliver improved profitability, margins and cash generation in a rapidly changing environment demonstrates the strength and resilience of our business.”
Manifold said the outlook for the rest of the year and into 2021 remained uncertain and is dependent on an improving health situation across CRH markets.
