CRH Plc expects annual profit to exceed €1.25 billion, it said today, announcing a slew of deals that showed it had ramped up acquisition spending in the second half of the year.
The building materials group, Ireland's third largest listed company, last year reported pretax profit of €1.02 billion the first time it had cracked the €1 billion profit mark.
Its 2005 full-year forecast is at the top end of analysts' estimates.
"In the second half, our American operations have coped well with higher energy costs and some moderation in construction growth while European markets, particularly for our Materials activities, have seen improved trading patterns," CRH said.
Analysts had expressed concern at the slowdown in acquisition spending in the first half of the year since acquisitions have provided consistent growth for the group.
But CRH said it had spent more than €1.2 billion on development in the second six months of the year, taking total development spending to around €1.45 billion.
"After a quiet first half which saw development initiatives of approximately €0.2 billion, activity picked up significantly in the second half of the year," it said in a statement.