CRH PLC (LON:CRH) chief executive Albert Manifold said on Thursday that the building materials company is likely to avoid any major acquisitions this year as it integrates the businesses it bought last year.
The Irish-based group agreed to a combined €5bn in acquisitions last year, including a €3bn deal to buy Ash Grove Cement.
Addressing reporters after the annual shareholder meeting, Manifold said CRH would pause on major acquisitions for the remainder of 2018 but would still pursue purchases of smaller businesses after spending €150mln on six such deals in the first quarter.
"If things go extremely well and extremely quickly (with the integration), I’d say you could be back there in the third quarter, fourth quarter... but I’d say pretty much for the remainder of this year," he said.
Referring to the smaller firms CRH routinely buys, Manifold added: “The bolt-ons just come through, you’ll do between 500 and 1 billion euros this year.
“But there will be no big stuff happening because all our focus and resources have to be focused on delivering that 5 billion,” he said referring to the amount spent on deals last year.”
Rather than invest in further acquisitions, CRH on Wednesday said in its first quarter results that it would return €1bn to shareholders through its first share buyback in a decade.
READ: CRH announces share buyback programme as LFL sales fall in first quarter
The company also unveiled a 2% decline in like-for-like sales in the first quarter, blaming a prolonged winter weather conditions and the timing of the Easter holidays.