CRH pleased with 2015 developments

CRH's development strategy continued apace in 2015, with a billion-euro disposal list and new investments worth eight billion.

The FTSE 100 building materials group confirmed total disposal proceeds of approximately €1bn (£743m) in 2015, comprising the previously announced sale of its clay and concrete product operations in the UK, and the group's clay business in the US - together worth €430m.

It also consisted of several divestments across Europe and the Americas for total proceeds of €530m.

During 2015, CRH also completed 20 bolt-on acquisition and investment transactions. Together with the acquisition of assets from Lafarge and Holcim, the CR Laurence acquisition and net deferred consideration payments brought development spend for the year to around €8bn.

"Portfolio management, and in particular the reallocation of capital from lower growth areas into core businesses for growth, is a cornerstone of our value creation model", said CRH chief executive Albert Manifold.

"We are pleased with our progress in 2015, which brought cumulative proceeds from our multi-year divestment programme to almost €1.4 billion, while our targeted bolt-on investments strengthened our existing businesses and complemented the major acquisition activity which saw total acquisition spend of approximately €8 billion in 2015", he added.

In Europe, the group made 15 divestments worth €260m and five acquisitions worth €21m. The largest divestment was the disposal of CRH's 25% equity stake in the Heavyside Israeli operation. Other disposals there included a number of non-core ready-mixed concrete and concrete products businesses. There was a small disposal by the Lightside division, and CRH's distribution arm sold its 45% stake in French building merchant Doras.

CRH's European acquisitions included the Lightside division's single purchase in Australia and a small further investment in the Netherlands, accelerating the introduction of the Cubis range of access chambers to the Australian marker. Its Heavyside operation set up a new joint venture with its existing ready-mixed concrete operations in St Petersburg, as well as acquiring a concrete paviour production plant in Poland. The distribution division acquired the remaining 50% of a Dutch aluminium wholesaler.

In the Americas, CRH's divestments totalled €267m and its acquisitions were €140m. The materials division disposed of four non-core operations and completed an asset exchange, while the products division sold six operations across the US, including national fencing distributor Merchant Metals. The products arm also divested of all its businesses in Argentina and Chile.

The group's American materials acquisitions included nine bolt-on acquisitions and three investments, adding annualised sales of around $200m (£136.88m) and more than 253 metric tonnes of aggregate reserves. The products division completed three transactions, adding annualised sales of $55m.