As the bad news continues to roll in from CRH's peers and rivals, the Irish group is rapidly becoming the preferred investment play in its sector.
Its strong balance sheet, which allows it the scope to spend up to €2 billion annually on acquisitions, stands in stark contrast to many of its continental counterparts, which are struggling with heavy debt loads.
Lafarge shares fell sharply yesterday after the French group announced a four-for-17 rights issue to raise €1.28 billion. Although Lafarge said the funds raised would give it the ability to invest in small and mid-sized growth opportunities, many analysts believe the main reason for the issue is to strengthen its balance sheet.
Following the acquisition of Blue Circle, Lafarge was saddled with high levels of net debt, which reached the €10 billion level at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, Germany's second-largest cement maker, HeidelbergCement, has signalled that it will sell peripheral assets to assist in debt reduction.
The company, which has been hit by a €252 million cartel fine and has announced plans for a deeply discounted €400 million rights issue, has set out plans to exit the Finnish market, where CRH is the dominant player in the cement sector.
Analysts believe this could throw up acquisition opportunities for CRH, not only in Finland but also in the Baltic states or in the St Petersburg area of Russia, if HeidelbergCement seeks to dispose of its interests in those locations as well.
No doubt Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary and others are enjoying the constant hammering being meted out to Aer Rianta by the Government and the airports regulator, but what does it all mean for the consumer?
With Bill Prasifka placing a cap on the company's airport charges and Séamus Brennan about to push ahead with a new privately owned terminal, things could not be much worse for Aer Rianta chairman Noel Hanlon.
The annual report and accounts of the company gives some clues about who is picking up the tab for all the rows between the various parties.
"Practically all profits were generated by airport retailing, commercial activities and overseas businesses," the company's annual report says.
In other words, if we can't get the money via landing charges, we will get it elsewhere, in the shops, pubs and other outlets that proliferate in the airport. Not to mention the short- and long-term car parks.
So while lower landing charges may mean lower ticket prices for the punter, the same punter is probably going to lose elsewhere. If the right hand doesn't get you, the left hand will.
The appointment of an authorised officer to one of the major Dunnes Stores companies, Dunnes Stores Ireland Company, is likely to be making a few people nervous.
From what we know about Mr Ben Dunne's reign at the helm of the Dunnes group, it seems he was in the habit of making irregular payments to people associated with the huge retailing operation. This practice of making irregular payments was of such concern to his sister, Ms Margaret Heffernan, when she took over control of the group from her brother, that she had Price Waterhouse have a look at the the issue and draw up a list.
That list is now most likely in the possession of the authorised officer, Mr Cyril Houlihan, who has the right to ask questions as to the reasons behind the unauthorised payments.
The appointment of Mr Houlihan to Dunnes Stores Ireland Company and Dunnes Stores Ilac Ltd comes after a number of years of legal challenges.
The reasons for the appointment go back to the 1997 McCracken Report and the Dunnes group's relationship with Mr Michael Lowry's Garuda Ltd and, perhaps, Mr Ciarán Haughey's Celtic Helicopters Ltd.
The inquiry into Dunnes will proceed in private and the eventual report will remain unpublished. A point to watch out for, however, is whether the inquiry into Dunnes leads to the appointment of authorised officers to other companies.
Given the size of Dunnes, and the nature of Mr Ben Dunne's business practices back in the early 1990s, such a development has to be a possibility if not a likelihood.
