Irish building suppliers company Readymix this morning predicted a further slowing of the private housing market as it released its half-year results.
Results for the half-year show pretax profit of euro 13.7 million, up 7.3 per cent, but turnover fell 3.6 per cent to euro 112.5 million.
"This is evidenced in the predicted slowdown in the growth in construction activity in the Republic of Ireland, which materialised in the first half of 2001," a company statement said.
Readymix Plc is engaged in the production and delivery of sand, stone and gravel to the construction industry and the delivery and production concrete and related products. The group said that, after a number of years of significant growth in the group's markets, aided by organic development and acquisitions in the company, the first half of 2001 had proved to be a more challenging one, with a return to more modest growth in the Irish economy.
The first half of the year was affected by global trends, particularly the slowdown in the US economy, the foot-and-mouth outbreak, continuing political uncertainty in the North and some rebalancing of the construction activities in the Republic, with a shift in emphasis away from residential and commercial in favour of infrastructural developments, the company said in a statement this morning.
The area most affected was the residential sector with housing starts reported to be down over 20 per cent, a figure mirrored in Readymix's own sales to residential construction.
"In Northern Ireland the company continues to make progress," it said. "While construction activity remains high in Northern Ireland the full potential of the economy will only be realised with a normalisation of the political situation," the board added.
Earnings per share grew 7.6 per cent to 10.54 cents and the board recommended an increase in the interim dividend of just under 10 per cent to 1.5 cents.
additional reporting AFP