CRH plc, the international building materials group, issues the following Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2014.

Key Points
  • Sales revenue increased by 4%; up 7% in Europe and up 1% in the Americas. Like-for-like sales up 5%.
  • Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in line with AGM guidance; EBITDA 27% ahead of first-half 2013 reflecting strong operating leverage.
  • Dividend per share maintained at 18.5c.
  • Portfolio review is progressing; a multi-year divestment programme of c. €1.5 - €2 billion is actively underway.
  • First-half acquisitions/investments of €130 million.
  • Incremental cost savings of €45 million to date in 2014 with full year target of €100 million on track.
  • Continued focus on cash flow - lower seasonal working capital and capital expenditure outflows.
  • Net debt of €3.7 billion, €0.5 billion lower than June 2013.

Key Figures

  1. EBITDA and operating profit exclude profit on disposals and CRH's share of joint ventures' and associates' profit after tax

Albert Manifold, Chief Executive, said today:
"2014 got off to an encouraging start with favourable weather in Europe and continuing recovery in the US. We are pleased with the strong operating leverage which is reflected in margin improvement for the period. Economic indicators continue to be positive in the Americas, while in Europe we have seen some easing of trends in recent months. Assuming normal weather patterns and no major market dislocations, and with the benefit of contributions from acquisitions and cost saving measures, we continue to expect second-half Group EBITDA to be somewhat ahead of last year (H2 2013: €1.08 billion)."

Announced Tuesday, 19 August 2014

DISCLAIMER
This document contains certain forward-looking statements as defined under US legislation. By their nature, such statements involve uncertainty; as a consequence, actual results and developments may differ from those expressed in or implied by such statements depending on a variety of factors including the specific factors identified in this document and other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC.

CRH will host a webcast and conference call at 8.30 a.m. BST (GMT +1) today, 19 August 2014 to discuss this announcement.   Registration details can be found on the Results Centre section of our website http://www.crh.com/investors/results-centre.

Contact CRH at Dublin 404 1000 (+353 1 404 1000)
Albert Manifold Chief Executive
Maeve Carton Finance Director
Frank Heisterkamp Head of Investor Relations

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