Building materials giant set to spend €600m this year
Outgoing chief executive Myles Lee said the building materials giant’s investment pipeline was “good at the moment, in terms of opportunities”.
Last year saw CRH spend €630m on acquisitions and investments; roughly €30m more than it did in 2011.
Even with its Americas business units likely to be the chief driver of growth for the foreseeable future, Mr Lee said that — on a geographical basis — Eastern Europe, China, and India would still be a focus when looking for bolt-on acquisitions, as well as North America.
CRH also announced, yesterday, that a committee — headed by group chairman Nicky Hartery — has been established to search for a successor to Mr Lee, who is set to retire at the end of this year.
With CRH since 1982, Mr Lee joined the group’s board, as finance director, in 2003 prior to becoming CEO in 2009. While at pains to note that he still has another year left in office, his tenure in the top job will probably be viewed as one of ship-steadying — with revenues, at least, generally stabilising and showing gradual growth since 2009 — after 2008 saw the company’s revenues and profits dip for the first time in 17 years. His time in charge has also seen CRH spend about €2.2bn on acquisitions.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Lee said that CRH’s short-term growth will likely continue to come from its Americas divisions and also took a side-swipe at certain analyst criticism that the group is over-reliant on developed markets and has not enough exposure to developing/ high-growth regions.
He said CRH’s presence in such markets was growing and it was being unfairly compared to peer groups which have been in existence longer than CRH.
The group also announced yesterday that it was terminating legal disputes with Spanish cement producer CPV, with the two having agreed an asset swap in relation to certain Spain-based assets.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
