CRH interim profits hit by Covid-19

Building materials group CRH reported a decline in interim profit and revenue on Thursday as it took a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic but still declared a dividend.

In the six months to the end of June, pre-tax profit fell to $518m from $717m in the first half of 2019, mostly reflecting lower profit on divestments compared last year.

Revenue was down 3% to $12.2bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and rationalisation fell to $1.59bn from $1.62bn as it was hit by one-off costs of $65m, mainly due to Covid-related restructuring items.

CRH said the pandemic had a "material" impact across the construction markets in which it operates. First-half like-for-like sales for its Americas Materials operations were down 1% compared to the first half of last year as Covid-related shutdowns in the North region were partly offset by strong demand in the West, which experienced more favourable weather conditions than 2019 and improved pricing.

In the Europe materials segment, a solid start to the year was offset by the impact of government restrictions across a number of key markets in Europe and in Asia. As a result, sales in the first half were 11% lower on an LFL basis.

Meanwhile, LFL sales in the building products business were up 2%. CRH said strong residential repair, maintenance & improvement (RMI) demand in North America resulted in positive volumes, together with pricing progress across most platforms.

The company declared an interim dividend of 22 cents a share, in line with last year.

Chief executive Albert Manifold said: "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 evolving environment demonstrates the strength and resilience of our business.

"The outlook for the rest of the year and into 2021 remains uncertain and is dependent on an improving health situation across our markets."

Based on recent trading trends, CRH expects third-quarter LFL sales to be slightly lower than the same period a year ago, with Americas Materials slightly behind, Building Products broadly in line, and Europe Materials behind.

Overall EBITDA for the third quarter is expected to be in line with Q3 2019.

"There is limited visibility for the fourth quarter of the year and as a result the group is not in a position to provide full-year guidance at this time," it said.