CRH HOPING FOR US STIMULUS BENEFITS - Building materials group CRH, the biggest company on the Irish Stock Exchange, says its revenue in the first half of the year was down 15% at €8.2 billion, and its profit before tax was €108m, down 82% on the same period last year.
But the group says it is keeping its dividend at 18.5 cent, and that things will pick up in the second half of the year.
Chief executive Myles Lee said the first quarter probably marked the depth of economic worries. He said the pace of decline was more modest in the second quarter of the year, and he expected this to ease further in the second half.
Mr Lee said funds from US President Barack Obama's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act - mostly for highway construction - had started to flow but would become more substantial in 2010. CRH - which supplies asphalt for such work - has seen a pick-up since May and June as these funds started to feed through.
He said CRH had had to take a look at its cost base, and had been doing so since 2007. Mr Lee said CRH was continuing to adjust its Irish business to lower levels of demand in the market.
He said currency factors affected its profits in the first half, but it would benefit in the second half from lower oil prices compared with the record levels of last year.
Earlier this year, CRH raised €1.24 billion for acquisitions. Mr Lee said CRH was looking to expand its operations in emerging markets, would approach this cautiously.
He said he expected the US to emerge earlier from recession, but it would be a longer time - probably 2011 - before Ireland would bounce back.
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KERRY PROFITS UP DESPITE SALES DIP - Food group Kerry has reported an increase in profits for the first six months of this year despite a drop in total sales. Kerry's pre-tax profit before once-off items rose by 5.2% to €136.8m, despite a 3.2% dip in sales to €2.27 billion. This was because its profit margins were higher.
Kerry chief executive Stan McCarthy said the company was pleased with the results against the background of the current economic climate.
Asked about a loss of market share for some of its Irish brands, he said the company had been doing a lot of promotional activity and would also have to look at some of the prices of its brands.
Mr McCarthy said people were doing a lot less 'impulse shopping' and this had affected its Irish convenience foods business.
He said other regions were doing better, and Asia was continuing to do very well for the company.
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NEWS AND MARKETS - In the US, President Barack Obama is set to reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve today.
The ISEQ index went above 3,000 points for the first time in almost ten months yesterday, hitting 3,006 - a level not seen since last November.
On the currency markets the euro is trading at $1.4291 and 87.11p sterling.
