8.5% pay hike for CRH CEO Albert Manifold on data boost

CRH chief executive Albert Manifold will see his pay increased by 8.5% this year. 

The building materials giant’s financial rewards for its top executives are creeping back towards peak levels.

The group’s latest annual report, published yesterday, showed that Mr Manifold will be paid a salary of €1.4m in 2016, 8.53% up on the €1.29m he received last year.

The increase is largely reflective of the role Mr Manifold — who took over from Myles Lee as CEO in early 2014 — played in CRH’s transformative, €6.5bn, record acquisition of a number of assets disposed of to make way for the merger of European peers, Holcim and Lafarge.

In all, CRH spent €8bn on investments and acquisitions last year, and while unlikely to repeat that in 2016, it expects to keep spending on bolt-on buys, as the year progresses.

CRH has been increasing its CEO pay since 2013, after five years of no change, but it still remains under the €1.5m peak paid out to Liam O’Mahony in 2008.

The annual report also shows that new finance director Senan Murphy — who was appointed in early January — will receive a salary of €625,000 this year.

Former finance director Maeve Carton — who has moved to the newly created role of group transformation director — was paid €675,000 last year, and will be paid a salary of €688,500 in 2016.

Mark Towe, who heads up CRH’s North American operations, will see a marginal pay increase this year, with his salary increasing from $1.42m to $1.45m.

Earlier this month, CRH published a strong set of annual results, showing a 25% jump in revenue to €23.63bn and earnings of €2.22bn, ahead by 35% and up by over €200m on previous guidance. Operating profit grew by nearly 40% to €1.28bn, while pre-tax profits jumped from €761m to €1.03bn.

The businesses acquired from Lafarge and Holcim made a strong contribution, with management saying that post-acquisition sales and earnings were ahead of expectations.

Speaking on the back of those results, Mr Manifold said management was focused on building upon the gains made in 2015, adding that he believed 2016 would be a year of continued growth for the group.

Earlier this year, Merrion Stockbrokers suggested that improved conditions in key markets, and acquisition contributions, could boost CRH’s earnings by as much as 70% this year.

Global cement demand is expected to grow by 2%-4% this year, with European demand likely to remain stable, but with growth of up to 6% anticipated in the US.