CRH Capital Markets Day 2012 following release of Interim Results – Six months ended 30th June 2012

CRH plc, the international building materials group, is hosting a capital markets day for investors and sector analysts on Friday, 16th November 2012 in London, to be repeated in New York on Monday, 19th November 2012.

The day will include presentations on various aspects of CRH’s operations and strategy, and will provide an opportunity to meet with CRH’s senior executive and divisional management team. No material new information will be disclosed in the presentations and no new trading information will be provided.

Invitations will be distributed over the coming weeks.

In other CHR News. 

Trading results reflect a positive start to the year for our Americas operations which benefited from favourable early weather conditions and a generally firmer tone in construction markets in the United States. In Europe however, trading was adversely impacted by very severe weather conditions in February, and by deteriorating confidence as uncertainty continued regarding Eurozone economic issues.

  • Sales revenue of €8.6 billion, €0.4 billion ahead of 2011 including favourable translation of €0.3 billion
  • EBITDA of €568 million, in line with May 2012 guidance; close to first half 2011
  • Good first half progress in the Americas with sales up 20% to €4.0 billion and EBITDA up 26% to €216 million; in Europe sales were down 5% to €4.6 billion and EBITDA reduced 13% to €352 million.
  • Profit on disposals of €196 million reflects disposal of Secil and of our German access control business
  • Share of associates’ results amounts to a loss of €118 million (2011: profit of €12 million), after impairment charge of €130 million (2011: €11 million)
  • Profit before tax, excluding impairment charges and disposals, down 45% to €52 million
  • Dividend per share maintained at 18.5c
  • Total development spend of €256 million (2011: €163 million) on 18 acquisitions and investments
  • Cumulative annualised savings of €2.1 billion from cost savings initiatives implemented since 2007
  • Net debt of €3.9 billion at end-June – in line with June 2011; balance sheet one of strongest in sector

Myles Lee, Chief Executive, said today:

“Problems in the Eurozone, which have intensified over the past six months, continue to erode consumer and business confidence in the wider European economy. In the Americas, current trends suggest that the benign early weather in the United States has resulted in some pull-forward of construction demand, while after good early momentum, the pace of economic growth has tempered over recent months. Against this backdrop, we expect that EBITDA for the year as a whole will be similar to last year’s level.

Across the Group, we are advancing further our cost and efficiency programmes, adjusting our cost base in response to evolving market demand. In addition, in the face of ongoing margin pressures, sharpening our commercial focus remains a key priority. We continue to optimise our cash generation capacity through close attention to working capital management and capital expenditure, while also maintaining our strong and flexible balance sheet.”

Announced Tuesday, 14 August 2012


DISCLAIMER
This Interim Report contains certain forward-looking statements as defined under US legislation. By their nature, such statements involve uncertainty; as a consequence, actual results and developments may differ from those expressed in or implied by such statements depending on a variety of factors including the specific factors identified in this Statement and other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC.

CRH will host a webcast and conference call at 8.30 a.m. BST on 14 August 2012 to discuss this announcement. The webcast, and a presentation to accompany this announcement, are available at www.crh.com. To register for the conference call please go to the Results Centre section of our website www.crh.com and follow the links. A recording of this conference call will be available from August 14, 2012 11:45 AM to August 19, 2012 11:59 PM by dialing :+35314364267,  +442077696425 or +16306523111 and entering passcode   7861848#

Contact +353 1 404 1000