CRH seals another deal with £839m takeover of US glazing rival

Meanwhile, CRH posted a 13pc jump in reported sales – taking in €9.4bn – in the first half. “The outlook for the remainder of the year is for a continuation of these trends”, CRH said. With the benefit of cost reduction initiatives and the resizing of its businesses over the past number of years, CRH said that operating profit and margin improved in Ireland and it is in a strong position “to benefit from the continued growth”. CRH has embarked on an aggressive acquisitions strategy in recent months.

The group said that in Europe, trading conditions in the first half of 2015 reflected a mixed macro-economic backdrop.

CRH is in the process of “rebalancing” its portfolio of companies and said it had taken in €670m during the period from divestments and disposals.

In a separate announcement, CRH said it has agreed a USD1.3 billion deal to acquire CR Laurence from owners the Friese family. CRL has over 1,600 employees. The company is a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of customer hardware and installation products for the professional glazing industry. CRH will finance the transaction using existing financial resources.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation in the half were up to EUR555.0 million from EUR505.0 million a year earlier, pushed higher by a 13% rise in sales revenue to EUR9.37 billion from EUR8.32 billion and by an improvement in the earnings margin for its continuing operations.

Mr Manifold said that CRL is an ” excellent operational fit with our building envelope business in the United States and represents an exciting opportunity for CRH”. Pre-tax profit rose from €61m to €63m, but was hit by a €38m charge relating to bond redemption.

CRH recently completed the acquisition of some European and American assets previous held by competitors Lafarge and Holcim, which made the disposals as part of a merger deal.