CRH expects its sales growth to build

Group sales at building materials giant CRH are up 4% in the year to date on a like-for-like basis, but the group’s earnings have been dragged back by under-performance in its European operations.

In its latest trading update, published yesterday, the group said its Americas operations had benefited from good weather conditions in the first four months of the year, but that more severe weather conditions on this side of the Atlantic — particularly in February — coupled with eurozone volatility had hampered earnings in Europe.

That said, management told shareholders at the group’s AGM yesterday that the company was likely to see overall like-for-like sales growth for 2012. The second half of the year tends to be the more significant period for CRH in terms of earnings power.