CRH Plc Turns To Profit In H1; Sees Higher EBITDA In H2 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - CRH Plc (CRH.L, CRH), UK-based building materials group, reported Tuesday that its first-half profit before tax was 61 million euros, compared to prior year's loss of 71 million euros.

Basic earnings per share was 6.1 cents, compared to loss of 7.8 cents last year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or EBITDA, grew 27 percent from last year, and was in line with AGM guidance.

Sales revenue increased 4 percent to 8.32 billion euros from 8.01 billion euros a year ago. Sales went up 7 percent in Europe and up 1 percent in the Americas. Like-for-like sales went up 5 percent.

Further, the company said its Board has decided to maintain the 2014 interim dividend at last year's level of 18.5c per share.

Looking ahead, the company noted that assuming normal weather patterns and no major market dislocations, and with the benefit of contributions from acquisitions and cost saving measures, it continues to expect second-half Group EBITDA to be somewhat ahead of last year's 1.08 billion euros.