Building materials giant CRH has reported higher revenues and earnings for the third quarter of 2024 and reaffimed its guidance for the full year.
CRH said its total revenues rose by 4% to $10.5 billion for the three months from July to September, while its adjusted EBITDA increased by 12% to $2.5 billion.
The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, an increase of 5% on 2023.
Breaking down its divisions, CRH said that total revenues at its Americas Materials Solutions were 4% ahead of the third quarter of last year, driven by strong pricing across all lines of business along with contributions from acquisitions which mitigated the effects of lower activity in certain markets due to weather disruption.
Adjusted EBITDA was 16% ahead of last year on the back of pricing improvements, operational efficiencies and good cost management, along with gains on the disposal of certain land assets.
Total revenues at Americas Building Solutions' total revenues were 1% ahead of of last year as contributions from acquisitions more than offset the impact of lower activity levels due to challenging weather and subdued new-build residential demand.
CRH's Europe Materials Solutions division saw total revenues 7% ahead of the same time last year, benefiting from the acquisition of Adbri in July and partly offset by the divestiture of the European Lime operations, as well as lower activity levels in certain markets.
And total revenues at Europe Building Solutions were 4% behind last year, amid continued subdued demand in new-build residential markets.
"Our third quarter results represent another strong performance with further growth in sales, profits and margins," CRH's chief executive Albert Manifold said.
"Despite contending with adverse weather in the quarter, our differentiated solutions strategy continues to deliver industry-leading performance, while the strength of our balance sheet combined with our disciplined approach to capital allocation leaves us well positioned to capitalise on the growth and value creation opportunities that lie ahead," the CEO said.
"We are pleased to reaffirm our guidance midpoint for 2024 and looking ahead to 2025, we expect favourable underlying demand, positive pricing momentum and another year of progress for CRH," he added.
During the three months to the end of September, CRH said it completed 12 acquisitions for a total consideration of $1.4 billion, compared with $0.4 billion in the same time of 2023.
Americas Materials Solutions completed seven acquisitions, Americas Building Solutions completed three acquisitions and Europe Materials Solutions completed two acquisitions.
Overall, during the nine months to the end of September, CRH completed 28 acquisitions for a total of $3.9 billion, compared with $0.6 billion in the first nine months of the prior year.
Meanwhile, cash proceeds from divestitures and disposals of long-lived assets in the third quarter reached
$0.1 billion, including the third and final phase of the divestiture of the European Lime operations, which was completed on August 30.
For the nine months ended September 30, the company realised cash proceeds from divestitures and disposals of assets of $1.2 billion, mainly related to the divestiture of the European Lime operations.
