Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the nine months stood at €2.5 billion, 8% ahead of 2017. Earnings were helped by continued underlying growth in the Americas, positive sales momentum in Europe, and improved demand in Asia.
CRH’s aggregates sales over the analysed nine-month period were 8% ahead of 2017. Asphalt sales were in line with 2017, while ready-mixed concrete volumes for the nine months were 28% ahead of 2017. Following the group’s 2017 acquisition of
CRH expect full year EBITDA to be around €3.35 billion, while its year-end net debt is expected to be approximately €7 billion. In a press statement, the group said it expected “favourable market fundamentals to continue across our key markets” going into 2019.
CRH has also announced the next phase of its €1 billion share buyback programme - €700 million of which has been completed to date – and stressed its continued focus on strong financial discipline. This supports CRH’s strong growth plan to 2021, which includes the implementation of €100 million in cost savings, primarily in the areas of overhead reductions, back office rationalisation and the consolidation of certain regional support functions into central and more coordinated hubs. The group says the overall growth plan will deliver 300bps (basis points) of EBITDA margin improvement and €7 billion of financial capacity by 2021.
