CRH can add to portfolio by 2bn per annum

BUILDING materials group CRH says it has the capacity to spend 2bn plus a year for the next few years on acquisitions.

Having beaten its own profit forecasts and paid out a dividend 33% higher than last year, the group says its key financial indicators make such spending possible.

Chief executive Liam O’Mahony pointed out that 2006 represented the group’s 23rd year of unbroken dividend growth. For several years, the dividend payment increase has been in the high teens and the board decided it was time to give a little more to shareholders.