Firm's trading update warns fall in value of assets will hit profits and earnings

A fall in the value of some assets will hit profits and earnings at CRH, the building materials giant predicted yesterday.

The group said in an update yesterday that a €130 million reduction in the value of some assets will result in 2012 pretax profits coming in below the €711 million recorded last year.

The group also expects earnings per share to fall behind the 82.6 cent it reported for 2011.

CRH also warned that the fallout from Hurricane Sandy, which caused major disruption in the eastern US, to leave earnings in its Americas materials division trailing last year’s outturn of $738 million.

The US is responsible for more than half of CRH’s revenue and profits and the materials division is a key element of the business there.

Following the statement’s release, the group’s shares gained more than 1 per cent in Dublin yesterday morning before slipping back in the afternoon to close 0.5 per cent ahead at €14.27.

Just over 2.2 million of its shares changed hands on the Irish market yesterday.

Last August, CRH reported it had written €130 million off the value of an associate firm during the first half of the year. The group said yesterday the associate was Spanish cement producer Uniland, in which it has a 26 per cent stake. CRH wrote a total of €30 million off the value of assets last year. Its statement yesterday said it expects this year’s write-down to be €131 million. The group expects to end the year with net debts of €3 billion, €500 million less than in 2011.

CRH said yesterday that sales in the third quarter of the year were 1 per cent ahead of the €5.3 billion earned in 2011.

Sales for the first nine months were 4 per cent ahead of the comparable period last year, when they came to €13.5 billion. Earnings before interest, tax and write-offs came to €1.2 billion.