CRH expecting solid earnings after strong third quarter

CRH reported “strong growth” in its profitability on Tuesday, as well a further margin expansion, with sales rising 11% for the first nine months of the year, to $22.8bn.

The FTSE 100 building materials company said its EBITDA for the period was up 15% at $3.9bn, as its EBITDA margin expanded by 50 basis points to 17.1%.

It reported “good” underlying demand and continued pricing progress across key markets, as well as “robust” cash generation and financial discipline; expecting year-end net debt-to-EBITDA of around 1.2x.

CRH’s year-to-date acquisition spend was $1.4bn, with the board describing a “strong pipeline” of opportunities, while its share buyback programme was ongoing, as $0.8bn had been completed in the year-to-date.

The company said it expected full-year EBITDA to be higher than $5.25bn, “well ahead” of last year.

“CRH continues to perform well with good underlying demand and pricing progress across our key markets,” said chief executive officer Albert Manifold.

“Our uniquely integrated and solutions-focused business model has supported further margin expansion across our businesses, while our strong cash generation and disciplined approach to capital allocation provides further opportunities to create value for all of our stakeholders.

“Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, we expect to deliver another record performance for the group, with full-year EBITDA in excess of $5.25bn.”

At 0850 GMT, shares in CRH were up 1.45% at 3,710p.