Building materials group CRH has said that sales in the third quarter rose by 4% year-on-year to €7.9 billion.
In a trading statement, CRH said its third quarter sales increased by 2% in Europe and 5% in the Americas while they jumped by 13% in Asia.
Sales for the nine months to the end of September rose by 3%, with sales in Europe up by 1%, 4% in the Americas and 3% in Asia.
CRH said that wet weather disrupted the group's operations in the Americas in the third quarter, while momentum remained positive in Europe and demand improved in Asia.
The company noted that volumes in all key products in its Irish operations were ahead following a strong third quarter period with positive pricing trends evident.
In today's trading update, CRH said it expects its full year profit before tax from continuing operations to be ahead of 2017's €1.9 billion.
"Based on the momentum we see in our businesses and including the benefit of acquisitions, full year EBITDA is expected to be approximately €3.35 billion," the company added.
It had reported EBITDA of €3.15 billion last year.
CRH added that it expects favourable market fundamentals to continue across its key markets.
The building materials group also announced the next phase of its sharebuy back programme today.
In April, the company said it would repurchase up to €1 billion of ordinary shares over the coming year and so far it has returned about €700m to its shareholders.
The company also said it has identified €100m of structural cost savings, mainly through overhead reductions, back office rationalisation and the consolidation of some regional support functions into central and more co-ordinated hubs.
Shares in the company were lower in Dublin trade today.
