CRH Q1 sales up 4% as European growth offsets flat US

Building materials group CRH said on Wednesday that it had had a "satisfactory" start to the year, with a 4% increase in first-quarter sales as European growth offset a flat US performance.

In a trading update for 1 January to 31 March 2017, the group said like-for-like sales increased by 3% compared with the same period last year. The economic and business environment in the Americas remained positive despite less favourable weather conditions and very challenging prior year comparatives, with sales flat.

In Europe, meanwhile, LFL sales growth of 6% was supported by stabilising trends in certain key markets and by the timing of Easter holidays which occurred in the first quarter of 2016.

However, the company cautioned that activity in the Philippines had a slow start to the year, with LFL sales 12% behind the first quarter of 2016 due to poor weather and competitive market conditions. CRH expects challenging market conditions in the Philippines to continue in the second half.

The group expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the first half of the year to be ahead of last year's €1.12bn.

"Looking ahead to the second half of the year, in Europe we expect some modest improvement across our main markets.

"In the United States, residential construction, which has still not returned to long-term average levels, is expected to advance; non-residential activity is also expected to improve; for US infrastructure, we anticipate that the funding stability provided by the FAST Act will lead to a more positive trend for volumes in H2; as a result, we expect EBITDA improvements in the Americas in the second half of the year."