CRH battles inflationary headwinds to post €15bn sales

The Irish building materials giant reported a 21% increase in earnings for the first half of the year and expects full year earnings to surpass 2021 results

CRH, led by CEO Albery Manifold, is the second-largest building materials company in the world. Picture: Naoise Culhane. 

Irish building materials group CRH posted positive performance results for the first half of this year, with sales rising 14% to €15bn despite significant inflationary headwinds.

The company, which is the world's second-largest building materials supplier and is headquartered in Dublin, reported a 21% increase in earnings -  before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) - for the first half of the year of €2.2bn.

Earnings per share increased 36% to €1.21.

"CRH has delivered another strong performance with further growth in sales, EBITDA and margin despite a challenging and volatile cost environment. This performance reflects the continued execution of our integrated and sustainable solutions strategy,” said chief executive Albert Manifold.

“Looking ahead, despite some continued cost headwinds, the strength of our balance sheet and resilience of our business leaves us well positioned to deliver superior value for all our stakeholders.’’

The company spent €2.8bn on acquisitions in the past year, including on US fencing company Barrette Outdoor Living.

Despite adverse weather conditions impacting activity levels in some regions, CRH said that strong pricing across all product categories has resulted in like-for-like sales in materials in Europe and North America this year.

Business in Ireland was also positive, with demand and operating profits ahead of last year.

"First-half trading reflected positive underlying demand and commercial progress in both North America and Europe, where strong pricing was achieved to address the inflationary cost environment," the company said in its interim results announcement.

The company's full-year earnings - before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - are expected to be €5.5bn, compared to last year's €5bn report.

"Assuming normal weather patterns for the remainder of the year and absent any major dislocations in the macroeconomic environment, we expect full-year EBITDA to be in the region of $5.5 billion against a continually challenging cost environment," CRH said.