CRH sales rise in first quarter as demand remains 'strong'

CRH reported a “positive start” to the year on Wednesday, with first quarter like-for-like sales up 3%.

The FTSE 100 building materials company said it was experiencing “good” underlying demand amid continued pricing progress across its key markets.

Its year-to-date acquisition spend stood at $0.2bn (£0.14bn), with the board describing a “strong pipeline” of opportunities, while the $0.2bn divestment of its Brazil cement business had completed.

CRH’s share buyback programme was ongoing, with a $0.3bn tranche to be completed by the end of June.

The company said group EBITDA for the first half was expected to be “well ahead” of the prior year.

“We had a positive start to the year in a seasonally quiet period for our business with good underlying demand and pricing progress across our key markets,” said chief executive officer Albert Manifold.

“While near-term uncertainties remain, we expect first-half profitability to be well ahead of the prior year period which experienced a heavily disrupted second quarter due to Covid-19.

“As we look ahead to the second half of the year, we expect further normalisation in our markets as the health situation continues to improve.”

At 0809 BST, shares in CRH were up 0.94% at 3,449p.