CRH revenues rise in third quarter

Building materials company CRH said its performance remained resilient in the third quarter of the year despite the challenges posed by costs and subdued residential activity.

Revenues rose 3 per cent to $11.4 billion (€10.12 billion), driven by pricing momentum, underlying demand and acquisitions. But impairments weighed on net income, reducing it to $1.2 billion from $1.5 billion a year earlier.

The US-listed group said it expected net income for the year of between $3.1 and $3.3 billion, with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the range of $7.8 billion to $8 billion.

Adjusted Ebitda was $2.7 billion, in line with 2025.

Chief executive Jim Mintern said the performance came against a “challenging and volatile inflationary cost backdrop”, and reflected disciplined commercial execution and performance improvement initiatives, along with positive underlying demand in key end-markets.

The group has also introduced a new transformation initiative, Velocity, that is expected to simplify the organisation’s structures, optimise processes and use AI to underpin growth objectives while enhancing operational efficiency and improving margins.

The two-year programme is expected to deliver annual run-rate benefits of approximately $400 million.

“By simplifying our operating model, leveraging technology and data more effectively, and increasing agility across the organisation, CRH will execute with greater speed and efficiency, raising our ambitions and accelerating the delivery of our expanded margins.”

CRH also announced a new share buyback programme of up to $6 billion, set to run until the end of 2030.