CRH PLC (LON:CRH) has reported a rise in sales and earnings in the first half of its financial year despite issues surrounding weather conditions and difficulties in the Philippines.
The FTSE 100-construction giant reported underlying earnings (EBITDA) for the period of €1.1bn, 1% ahead of the same period last year, while revenues also grew 1% to €11.9bn.
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In terms of like-for-likes (LFLs), EBITDA for the period was ahead by 1%, while LFL sales were up 2% for the group.
The firm also increased its interim dividend by 2% to 19.6 euro cents.
In its divisions, CRH reported LFL EBITDA growth of 1% in Europe and 3% in the Americas as severe weather dented performance in several countries, some of which had not yet fully recovered.
However, LFL EBITDA declined 59% in Asia as the company experienced higher fuel and power costs in its Philippine operation which offset pricing improvements and drove operating profit and margins down to below levels seen in the first half of 2017.
In its outlook, the company said it expected EBITDA for the second half of the year to be ahead of the 2017 period, as well as an improvement in housing and non-residential construction in the Americas.
In Asia, CRH expected the challenging market conditions in the Philippines to continue and that EBITDA would remain at a similar level to the first half.
The company added that it had completed phase 1 of a share buyback programme, spending around €350mln to date.
In early morning trading Thursday, CRH shares were up 3.5% at 2,698p.