Gartmore, the British fund management group, which was the biggest shareholder in CRH until recently, has sold over £100 million worth of CRH shares.

A disclosure to the stock exchange shows that Gartmore now holds 9.7 million CRH shares - down from 31.9 million shares less than a year ago.

It is understood that Gartmore - which bought into CRH about two years ago at prices of around 230p - has sold the 22 million shares over the past weeks. During this period CRH shares have been trading between 500p and 530p, supported by strong demand from overseas investors. Page 6