UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13A - 16 OR 15D - 16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
20 April 2022
Commission
File No. 001-32846
____________________________
CRH public limited company
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
____________________________
Belgard Castle, Clondalkin,
Dublin 22, Ireland.
(Address of principal executive offices)
____________________________
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports
under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Form
20-F X Form
40-F___
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by
Regulation
S-T Rule 101(b)(1):_________
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
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S-T Rule 101(b)(7):________
Enclosure:
Trading
Update – April 2022
Trading
Update - April 2022
Key
Highlights
● Positive start to the year, good underlying
demand; Q1 sales, EBITDA & margin ahead
● Integrated solutions strategy continuing to
deliver across all Divisions
● Year-to-date acquisition spend $0.6bn; strong
pipeline of opportunities
● Share buyback programme continues; $0.6bn to be
completed by end of June
● H1 Group sales, EBITDA & margin expected to be
ahead of prior year
Albert
Manifold, Chief Executive, said today:
"The continued delivery of our solutions strategy resulted in a
good start to the year. Although a number of challenges and
uncertainties continue, our demand backdrop remains favourable and
absent any major dislocations in the macroeconomic environment, we
expect first-half sales, EBITDA and margin to be ahead of the prior
year period."
Announced Wednesday, 20 April
2022
Health
& Safety
As the conflict in Ukraine continues to unfold and many of our
markets continue to be affected by the impact of COVID-19, the
health and safety of our people remains our number one priority.
Our approach is to ensure that we provide a safe working
environment for our employees, contractors and customers, enabling
them to carry out their activities in accordance with the various
health and safety protocols currently in place across our
markets.
Sustainability
Sustainability is deeply embedded in all aspects of our business
and we recognise the importance of our role in the delivery of a
more resilient built environment. Through our integrated solutions
strategy we are uniquely positioned to accelerate the transition
towards more sustainable building practices across the value chain.
We recently announced our target to deliver a 25% reduction in
absolute Group-wide carbon emissions1 by
2030 (on a 2020 baseline), as validated by the Science Based
Targets Initiative (SBTi). Our ambition remains to become a net
zero business by 2050.
1 Scope
1 and Scope 2 emissions.
Trading
Overview
A positive start to the year with first quarter Group sales, EBITDA
and margin ahead of the same period last year. Sales growth and
performance were supported by improved activity levels and the
continued execution of our integrated solutions
strategy.
Americas
Materials
Sales for our Americas Materials operations were 13% ahead of the
same period in 2021, driven by commercial progress across all lines
of business which more than offset the impact of unfavourable
weather conditions on activity levels in this seasonally less
significant quarter.
Key Products in Brief
● Aggregates: Q1 aggregates volumes were 3% behind 2021,
impacted by adverse weather conditions in the Northeast, Great
Lakes and West divisions; average year-to-date prices increased by
7%.
● Asphalt: Volumes were 19% ahead as the benefit of
acquisitions offset the negative impact of weather and timing of
projects; average prices increased 8%.
● Readymixed Concrete
(RMC): Volumes were 6%
behind as poor weather conditions in the Northeast, Great Lakes and
West divisions offset the more favourable conditions in the South;
average prices were 12% ahead with increases across all
regions.
● Paving and Construction
Services: Sales in our
paving and construction services business were 29% ahead of 2021
primarily driven by milder weather in the South division and the
timing of a number of large projects in the West.
● Cement: Volumes were in line with 2021 as strong
demand in the central and southern regions was offset by
weather-impacted performances in Canada and some western regions;
prices were 11% ahead with good momentum in both the United States
(US) and Canada.
Europe
Materials
Sales for our Europe Materials operations were 11% ahead of 2021 in
the first quarter aided by strong demand and milder weather in most
key markets.
Key Markets in Brief
● United Kingdom (UK) &
Ireland: UK & Ireland
sales were well ahead of prior year reflecting good underlying
demand and milder winter conditions. In the UK, price increases
were implemented across all products with volume improvements also
positively impacting sales. Our businesses in Ireland had a
positive start to the year with volume increases in all key
products against a prior year comparative impacted by COVID-19
restrictions.
● Europe East (Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary,
Slovakia and Serbia): Milder winter conditions compared to the
prior year combined with robust market demand resulted in higher
volumes in most markets, particularly Poland and Romania. Activity
levels in Ukraine had a strong start to the year but have since
been impacted by the ongoing conflict. Prices increased across all
markets.
● Europe North (Finland, Germany and
Switzerland): Our Europe
North businesses had a positive start to the year as milder winter
weather conditions, improved activity levels and strong price
increases resulted in higher sales.
● Europe West (France, Benelux, Denmark and
Spain): Sales were ahead
of prior year primarily driven by France and Benelux. France
benefited from solid demand, more favourable weather conditions and
pricing improvements in all products while an increase in precast
product sales positively impacted Benelux.
● Asia: Sales in the Philippines were
behind prior year as lower activity levels due to the upcoming
presidential election were only partially offset by price
improvements.
Building
Products
First quarter sales were 22% ahead of the same period in 2021,
reflecting continued delivery of our integrated solutions strategy,
strong demand for residential construction, particularly in North
America, along with continued recovery in certain non-residential
segments and positive contributions from prior year
acquisitions.
Key Products in Brief
● Architectural Products: Strong demand together with good commercial
management in the early months of the year resulted in sales ahead
of prior year in both North America and Europe.
● Infrastructure Products: A strong start to the year resulted in increased
sales driven by improved pricing and higher activity levels in the
communications, water, energy, and transportation sectors,
particularly in North America. National Pipe, the recently acquired
water and energy infrastructure solutions business, also
contributed and performed ahead of
expectations.
● Construction Accessories: Strong demand in all regions, particularly the UK,
Germany and North America drove sales ahead of prior year. Price
improvements also positively impacted.
● Building Envelope: Continued recovery in the non-residential sector
and good commercial discipline resulted in sales ahead of
2021.
Capital
Allocation Update
Share
Buyback Programme
As announced on 17 March 2022, reflecting our strong financial
position and commitment to returning cash to shareholders, the
Group continued its share buyback programme with a further $0.3
billion to be completed no later than 27 June 2022 bringing the
total for the six months ending 30 June 2022, to $0.6
billion.
Development
Activity
The Group has spent c. $0.6 billion on 11 acquisitions in the
year-to-date, the largest of which were the acquisition of Rinker
Materials within Infrastructure Products, expanding our pipe and
precast products offering in Texas and the acquisition of Calstone
Company in Architectural Products, a leading provider of outdoor
living solutions in California. On the divestment front, the Group
completed c. $30 million of business and asset disposals. The
divestment of our Building Envelope business for an enterprise
value of $3.8 billion is expected to close in Q2 2022.
Trading
Outlook
Overall, assuming normal seasonal weather patterns and absent
any major dislocations in the macroeconomic environment, we
expect Group sales, EBITDA and margin for the first half of the
year to be ahead of 2021 (H1 2021 EBITDA: $2.0 billion). We expect
the positive demand environment in North America to continue,
which, in addition to the continued delivery of our integrated
solutions strategy and good commercial management, should
positively impact both our Americas Materials and Building Products
businesses. Despite the challenges of significant energy cost
volatility and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we expect
like-for-like2 EBITDA
in our Europe Materials business to be ahead of the prior year
period.
CRH will report its interim results for the six months ending 30
June on Thursday, 25 August 2022.
Appendix
1
Sales change versus 2021
|
Americas Materials
|
Europe Materials
|
Building Products
|
Group
|
Reported Sales
|
+13%
|
+11%
|
+22%
|
+15%
|
Like-for-like Sales2
|
+9%
|
+18%
|
+12%
|
+13%
|
2 Like-for-like
movements exclude the impact of currency exchange, acquisitions and
divestments.
CRH plc will host an analysts' conference call at 14:00 BST on
Wednesday, 20 April 2022 to discuss the Trading Update. To join
this call please dial: +353 (0) 1 506 0650, confirmation code
9145599 (further international numbers are
available here).
A recording of the conference call will be available on
the Results
& Presentations page of the CRH
website.
Contact CRH at +353 1 404 1000
Albert Manifold Chief
Executive
Jim
Mintern
Finance Director
Frank Heisterkamp
Director of Capital Markets & ESG
Tom Holmes
Head of Investor Relations
About CRH
CRH (LSE: CRH, ISE: CRG, NYSE: CRH) is the leading building
materials business in the world, employing c.77,400 people at
c.3,235 operating locations in 28 countries. It is the largest
building materials business in North America and Europe and also
has regional positions in Asia. CRH manufactures and supplies a
range of integrated building materials, products and innovative
solutions which can be found throughout the built environment, from
major public infrastructure projects to commercial buildings and
residential structures. A Fortune 500 company, CRH is a constituent
member of the FTSE 100 Index, the EURO STOXX 50 Index, the ISEQ 20
and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Europe. CRH's
American Depositary Shares are listed on the NYSE.
For more information visit www.crh.com
Disclaimer
In order to utilise the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, CRH public
limited company (the "Company"), and its subsidiaries
(collectively, "CRH" or the "Group") is providing the following
cautionary statement.
This document contains statements that are, or may be deemed to be
forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition,
results of operations, business, viability and future performance
of CRH and certain plans and objectives of CRH, including but not
limited to the statements under: "Key Highlights", regarding the
trading expectations for the first half of the year and the
pipeline for further growth opportunities; the Chief Executive's
quote, regarding expected first-half sales, EBITDA and margin;
"Sustainability", regarding the Group's targets of reducing carbon
emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050; "Share
Buyback Programme", regarding the timing and amount of share
buybacks; "Development Activity", regarding the anticipated closing
of the divestment of the Building Envelope business; "Trading
Outlook", regarding expectations for weather conditions, the
macroeconomic environment, sales volumes, EBITDA and margin,
pricing and market trends, including those related to underlying
demand and costs, including energy cost volatility.
These forward-looking statements may generally, but not always, be
identified by the use of words such as "will", "anticipates",
"should", "could", "would", "targets", "aims", "may", "continues",
"expects", "is expected to", "is likely to," "estimates",
"believes", "intends," "plans," "objective," or similar
expressions. These forward-looking statements include all matters
that are not historical facts or matters of fact at the date of
this document.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and reflect
the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to such
future events and circumstances that may not prove
accurate.
A number of material factors could cause actual results and
developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by these forward-looking statements, certain of which are beyond
our control, and which include, among other factors: economic and
financial conditions generally in various countries and regions
where we operate; the pace of growth in the overall construction
and building materials sector; demand for infrastructure,
residential and non-residential construction in our geographic
markets; increased competition and its impact on prices; increases
in energy and/or raw materials costs; adverse changes to laws and
regulations; approval or allocation of funding for infrastructure
programmes; adverse political developments in various countries and
regions, including the ongoing geopolitical conflict in Ukraine;
failure to complete or successfully integrate acquisitions; the
duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and weather conditions.
There are important factors, risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different,
including risks and uncertainties relating to CRH described under
"Risk Factors" of the Company's 2021 Annual Report and Form
20-F.
You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
made as of the date of this document. The Company expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly update or
revise these forward-looking statements other than as required by
applicable law.
The forward-looking statements in this document do not constitute
reports or statements published in compliance with any of
Regulations 6 to 8 of the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC)
Regulations 2007 (as amended).
SIGNATURE
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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CRH public limited company
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(Registrant)
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Date 20
April 2022
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By:___/s/Neil
Colgan___
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N.Colgan
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Company Secretary
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