First-half profit growth at CRH

Good performance in heritage business and strong contributions from recent acquisitions

CRH plc, the Dublin-based global building materials group, achieved record EBITDA of €1.54 billion for the six months ended 30 June 2019, 36% ahead of the first-half period last year (H1 2018: €1.13 billion), on sales revenue that was 11% ahead at €13.2 billion (H1 2018: €11.9 billion).

As well as good EBITDA margin progress, up 9.5% to 11.7%, the first half also saw continued portfolio refinement with around  €2 billion of divestments and some €0.5 billion of acquisitions.

Commenting on the 2019 interim results, Albert Manifold (pictured), chief executive of CRH, said: ‘On the back of our strategic initiatives, we have delivered significant profit growth in the first half of 2019, with a good performance in our heritage business and strong contributions from recent acquisitions.

‘With our continued strong cash generation and financial discipline, we expect year-end debt metrics to be below normalized levels. We anticipate further progress in the second half of the year with benefits from positive underlying momentum in all divisions as well as good contributions from acquisitions.’