CRH, the Irish building-materials supplier, has announced a higher pretax profit in the first half of the year. The company attributes this success to robust pricing, which offset cost inflation. Additionally, CRH raised its dividend payout.
Financial Performance
CRH reported a pretax profit of $1.51 billion for the first six months of the year, compared to $1.20 billion during the same period last year. Revenue also saw an increase, rising from $15.0 billion to $16.14 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at $2.52 billion, compared to $2.21 billion in the previous year.
Positive Outlook
In April, CRH stated that it anticipated sales and EBITDA to surpass the prior-year levels. The company now reaffirms this projection and highlights that its performance has been driven by contributions from previous-year acquisitions and strong underlying demand in key end-use markets.
Looking ahead, CRH expects full-year EBITDA to be approximately $6.2 billion, surpassing the 2022 levels of $5.62 billion.
Dividend Increase
The board of directors has declared an interim dividend of 0.25 cents per share, up from 24 cents per share in the previous year.
