CRH to rejoin Euro Stoxx 50 after two-year absence

CRH will rejoin Europe's leading blue-chip stocks index, the Euro Stoxx 50 this month after the building materials giant's shares surged in value in the past six weeks.

Ireland’s largest publicly quoted company is among three companies set to be promoted to the key index on September 19th, stock market index company, Stoxx Ltd in Zurich, said yesterday evening.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst David Donnelly estimates that fund managers whose investments track the Euro Stoxx 50 index will have to buy the equivalent of about 33 days worth of normal traded volume in the shares to leave themselves holding the right amount of CRH when the index changes take effect.

CRH, which currently has a €25.2 billion market capitalisation, was relegated from the Euro Stoxx 50 index two years ago in favour of Nokia, the Finnish communications and information technology group. The company’s return to the index comes after its share price surged over 15 per cent in the past six weeks, after it raised its first-half earnings forecast and went on to deliver results that exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Based on European market closing prices yesterday, Adidas, the German sportswear giant, and Belgo-Dutch supermarket group Ahold Delhaize, will also join the Euro Stoxx 50 index on September 19th, Stoxx Ltd said.

Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali and Italian banking giant UniCredit as well as French retailer Carrefour are set to be relegated from the index on the same date, it said.

Meanwhile, FTSE Russell also said that Smurfit Kappa is currently in second place to replace ARM Holdings on the FTSE 100 as the UK designer of microprocessors that power more than 95 per cent of the world's smartphones will see its shares cancelled next Tuesday. ARM is being taken over by Japanese internet and phone giant SoftBank.

Prized spot

Paper packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, with a market value of €5.22 billion (£4.43 billion), would need to see its market value overtake UK software Micro Focus, which is currently valued at £4.58 billion, to secure the prized spot on the FTSE 100.

Meanwhile, FTSE Russell confirmed that UK housebuilder Berkeley Group is set to be relegated from the FTSE 100 next month, to be replaced by Polymetal International, a precious metals mining company.

Smurfit Kappa moved its primary listing to London earlier this year as it sought to be included in the FTSE UK index series. It joined the series in June as a member of the FTSE 250.