Building materials group CRH posted a 20 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit today and said it expected to make further progress in the rest of 2005.
"The group will continue to benefit in the second half from strong markets in its American operations," CRH chief executive Liam O'Mahony said.
Pre-tax profit at CRH rose to €383 million in the first six months of the year from €319 million in the same period of 2004. The company had said in July it would report "high-teens" percentage growth in pre-tax profit.
In the Americas, where a booming market has already helped European rivals post forecast-beating numbers, CRH said its materials business had good backlogs for the rest of the year while demand at its products unit remained positive.
As for some of its weaker European markets, CRH said its Polish materials operations had seen improved trading in recent months.
In The Netherlands, its DIY business continues to suffer from weak consumer spending, but the builders merchants have proved more robust.
In terms of acquisitions, which are key to CRH's growth strategy, the company said that after relatively modest spending of €231 million in the first six months of the year, it had already spent another 190 million since the end of June.