CRH outlay rises to €690m

Building materials company CRH spent nearly €700 million on acquisitions and investments last year, nearly €100m more than its 2012 outlay.

The Dublin-based international cement and concrete specialist said yesterday that €220m was spent on seven acquisition and investment initiatives during the second half of the year.

On top of the €470m it spent during the first six months it brought CRH’s total 2013 spend to €690m; €90m up on its 2012 levels.

Included in the total figure was the €96m takeover of Ukrainian company, Mykolaiv Cement, which was agreed back in April, but only got regulatory approval during the second half.

Outside of this and the purchase of Sree Jayajothi Cements in India, by the group’s local My Home Industries joint venture, the bulk of CRH’s second half activity was focused upon Asia and the US.

The group’s associate in China, Yatai Group Building Materials, completed the €46m takeover of Zhongbei Cement in September.

Elsewhere, three bolt-on acquisitions — certain assets of the Rogers Group, Turner Gravel and Lafarge — to the combined tune of €33m were made by CRH’s Americas Materials division; while €12m was spent on three distribution assets; four builders merchants facilities from Wolseley in France and certain assets from two companies in the US.

CRH’s new chief executive, Albert Manifold, said that the high spend for 2013 reflected the group’s “strategic focus on establishing leading positions in attractive markets”.

“During the second half of the year, we continued to strengthen our cement operations in high growth markets in Ukraine, India and China.

“The second half also saw several attractive bolt-on transactions which expand our aggregates positions in a number of key markets in the US,” he added.

While noting a continuation of CRH’s strategy of adding bolt-on acquisitions to existing divisions, analysts also stressed an increased focus on activity in developing countries — like India, China and Ukraine — and a bias towards companies linked with RMI (repair maintenance and improvement) work.