Albert Manifold handed back the keys to his office this week, after 11 years as chief executive of CRH. During the period he presided over an almost 400 per cent surge in the share price as he moved the traditional seller of cement and other base materials into full-scale construction services – ruthlessly selling off unwanted business during the period even as CRH continued to be one of Ireland’s most acquisitive companies.
The company surged 70 per cent alone since Manifold moved the company’s main stock listing to New York in September 2023 – amid hopes that this will lead to more US contracts and, as importantly, see CRH ultimately join the S&P 500 index, the most widely followed stock index by institutional investors globally.
The 387 per cent price gain under Manifold’s leadership – even after the stock drifted back in recent weeks from an all-time high – is based off the company’s performance on the London Stock Exchange, where it has had a continuous listing. It has also been bolstered by CRH buying back more than $8.2 billion (€8 billion) of its own stock since it commenced a repurchase programme in May 2018.
CRH deployed $4.6 billion on acquisitions in the year to end-October, including a balanced mix of two significant transactions and 33 bolt-on purchases. It has also signalled that it could have a war chest of more than €20 billion to spend on further deals in the coming years.
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Even as US peers such as Martin Marietta and Vulcan Materials downgraded their earnings forecasts during the autumn, CRH maintained the midpoint of its 2024 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) at $6.92 billion in November.
[ CRH shrugs off bad weather as revenues and profits rise in third quarterOpens in new window ]
The next catalyst for the stock will likely be when the new chief executive, Jim Mintern, a group veteran of more than two decades and its most recent chief financial officer, unveils CRH’s latest annual results in the coming months.
Investors will be keen to hear Mintern’s strategy for activities outside of North America (which now represent only a quarter of group earnings) – amid chatter in some quarters that they could, or should, be divested.
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