Building materials group CRH has said it expects pre-tax profits for the first six months of the year to rise by 25% compared with the €526m reported in the same period last year.
It has also confirmed that chief executive Liam O'Mahony will step down at the end of 2008, after nine years in the job. CRH expects to appoint a successor next summer.
In a trading statement, the company said a particularly strong start to the year in Europe had 'significantly outweighed' more challenging conditions in North America. It added that it expected 'strong' growth in full-year profits.
CRH also said it spent almost €1 billion on acquisitions and investments in the first half, with the biggest deals including the purchase of Swiss company Getaz Romang and its first acquisitions in China and Turkey.
The company said profits on sell-offs, mainly surplus property, would be well ahead of last year's total of €40m and would be 'an ongoing feature' of its activities.
Shares in CRH were up 42 cent at €37.05 in Dublin today.
