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(Alliance News) - CRH said building materials markets in North America and Europe are strong, as the Irish company watches the progress of a massive infrastructure spending bill through the US Congress.
Reporting half-year results on Thursday, CRH said pretax profit doubled to USD1.05 billion in the six months that ended June 30 from USD518 million a year before. Revenue was USD14.04 billion, up 15% from USD12.22 billion.
CRH posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of USD2.0 billion, which was 25% ahead of USD1.6 billion last year. CRH said this reflected strong volume growth as well as a continued focus on price improvements and cost rationalisation, which more than offset the effects of input cost inflation.
The Dublin-based company declared an interim dividend of 23 US cents, up 4.5% from 22 cents paid out last year.
Looking ahead, CRH said it is encouraged by the progress being made in relation to the Biden administration's plans for infrastructure spending in the US. In Europe, it expects solid construction demand in its key markets to continue against a backdrop of a strong prior year performance.
Chief Executive Officer Albert Manifold said: "I am pleased to report a good first half as the strength and resilience of our business model once again delivers superior performance for CRH. Our integrated and solutions-focused approach leaves us uniquely positioned for the changing needs of construction, while our continued strong cash generation provides us with the flexibility to invest in future growth opportunities for our business. Based on current trading conditions and the positive momentum that we see across our markets, we expect second-half group EBITDA to be ahead of a record prior year."
US President Joe Biden's plans to spend nearly USD5 trillion to change the world's largest economy advanced in the House of Representatives earlier this week, after Democratic leaders reached an agreement with centrist lawmakers to end a dispute threatening the bills.
Biden and his Democratic allies controlling the chamber are pushing for passage of both a USD1.2 trillion infrastructure overhaul and a bill costing USD3.5 trillion over 10 years that would pay for improvements to education, health care and climate change resiliency.
CRH shares were up 1.1% early Thursday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.6% at 7,105.57
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Hang Seng: down 1.6% at 25,294.64
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.1% at 27,742.29
DJIA: closed up 39.24 points, or 0.1%, at 35,405.50
S&P 500: closed up 0.2% at 4,496.19
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 0.2% at 15,041.86
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EUR: firm at USD1.1760 (USD1.1754)
GBP: up at USD1.3743 (USD1.3726)
USD: soft at JPY110.01 (JPY110.06)
Gold: down at USD1,785.02 per ounce (USD1,786.95)
Oil (Brent): up at USD72.05 a barrel (USD71.61)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
1000 CEST EU monetary developments in euro area (M3)
0830 EDT US 2nd estimate gross domestic product
0830 EDT US jobless claims
1030 EDT US EIA weekly natural gas storage report
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South Korea's central bank raised interest rates, one of the first major economies to do so since borrowing costs were cut to record lows in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Bank of Korea raised its key rate by 25 basis points to 0.75% after a policy meeting, as the country tries to rein in growing household debt and a frenzied housing market. A few countries have begun to raise interest rates, among them Brazil, Russia, Chile and Mexico, and investors around the world are watching closely for when the US Federal Reserve will start to taper its huge stimulus programmes. South Korea, the world's 12th-largest economy, had kept its key rate at a record low 0.5% since May 2020, and Thursday's move was its first rate hike since November 2018.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS TARGET TO 5,650 (5,600) PENCE - 'BUY'
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BERENBERG RAISES FLUTTER PRICE TARGET TO 15,800 (14,700) PENCE - 'HOLD'
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RBC RAISES PROVIDENT FINANCIAL TARGET TO 325 (210) PENCE - 'SECTOR PERFORM'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Polymetal International said it delivered a strong financial performance in the first half of 2021 on the back of favourable commodity prices. For the six months to June 30, revenue was USD1.27 billion, up 12% from USD1.14 billion last year. Pretax profit was USD521 million, rising 11% from USD470 million. Polymetal said its average realised gold and silver prices tracked market dynamics and increased by 8% and 59%, respectively, during the period. Looking ahead, Polymetal said it is on track to meet its 2021 production guidance of 1.5 million ounces of gold equivalent. Further, the company maintained its 2021 cost guidance. Total cash cost will be in a range of USD700 to USD750 per gold equivalent ounce. All-in sustaining costs will be USD925 to USD975 per gold equivalent ounce. This guidance is contingent on the Russian ruble-dollar and Kazakhstani tenge-dollar exchange rates, which have a significant effect on the miner's local-currency denominated operating costs, it noted. Polymetal declared an interim dividend of USD0.45 per share, up from USD0.40 paid out last year.
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Barclays said it will make an investment of over INR30.00 billion, about GBP294 million, in its Indian unit to accelerate its growth ambitions. With this cash infusion, the lender said its total invested capital in the country will increase to over INR83.00 billion. Barclays said the investment will enable further growth of its Corporate & Investment Banking and Private Clients businesses in India. As part of its expansion plans in the country, Barclays Bank also inaugurated its International Banking Unit branch at GIFT City in Gujarat back in February.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Watches of Switzerland Group said it has hired William Floydd as its new chief financial officer, succeeding Anders Romberg who is set to retire after seven years in the role. Floydd joins Watches of Switzerland from fellow FTSE 250 constituent Rank Group, where he has held the CFO post since November 2018. Watches of Switzerland said Floydd's start date will be announced, and Romberg will remain with the company as a director and CFO until then and will leave following a handover period. Rank Group, noting the announcement, said it expects Floydd to leave Rank at the end of 2021 and it will shortly begin a search for his successor.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Western Digital is in talks to merge with Japanese technology storage specialist Kioxia Holdings, Bloomberg reported. A deal, which could be worth more than USD20 billion, would combine the two chipmakers into an industry-leading firm, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter. Both companies specialise in the manufacture of memory chips used as storage in portable devices and computers. A merger could be complete as soon as mid-September. However, Kioxia also is still pursuing an initial public offering, Bloomberg noted. The deal would lead to greater competition for industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics in the market for memory chips, hard disk drives and data storage.
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings
Braemar Shipping Services PLC - AGM
D4t4 Solutions PLC - AGM
Triple Point Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Co PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
