Client News

CRH 2009 full year results

02 March 2010

2009 FULL YEAR RESULTS

Year ended 31st December	2009	2008	% change
	€ m	€ m
Revenue	17,373	20,887	-17%
EBITDA*	1,803	2,665	-32%
Operating profit*	955	1,841	-48%
Profit on disposal of non-current assets	26	69	-62%
Profit before tax and excluding impairment charges	773	1,642	-53%
Profit before tax	732	1,628	-55%
	€ cent	€ cent**
Earnings per share	88.3	210.2	-58%
Cash earnings per share	214.7	348.9	-38%
Dividend	62.5	62.2	-
* EBITDA and operating profit are stated before profit on disposal of non-current assets. ** Per share comparatives for 2008 have been restated to reflect the impact of the March 2009 Rights Issue

· EBITDA for 2009 was €1,803 million, in line with the guidance provided in the Trading Update Statement of 5th January 2010, representing a decline of 32% compared with €2,665 million in 2008. EBITDA is stated after charging costs associated with the Group’s restructuring efforts of €205 million (2008: €62 million).

· Depreciation and amortisation costs amounted to €848 million (2008: €824 million) and include impairment charges of €41 million (2008: €14 million).

· Operating profit fell 48% to €955 million (2008: €1,841 million) after restructuring and impairment charges of €246 million (2008: €76 million). Excluding these charges, operating profit fell 37%.

· Profit before tax and impairment charges of €773 million was 53% below 2008 but ahead of the guidance of €750 million provided in the January 2010 Trading Update. After impairment charges of €41 million (2008: €14 million), profit before tax of €732m showed a decline of 55% on 2008.

· Earnings per share fell 58% to 88.3c (2008: 210.2c adjusted for the March 2009 Rights Issue).

· Dividend per share of 62.5c showed a slight increase on the Rights-adjusted 2008 dividend of 62.2c. 2009 represents CRH’s 26th consecutive year of dividend growth.

· Significant working capital reduction together with capital expenditure restraint contributed to operating cash flow of €1.2 billion, double the 2008 level of €0.6 billion.

· Net debt reduced to €3.7 billion (2008: €6.1 billion) reflecting strong operating cash flow and proceeds from the March 2009 Rights Issue which raised just over €1.2 billion net of expenses.

· With year-end net debt to EBITDA of 2.1 times and 2009 EBITDA/net interest of 6.1 times, CRH has one of the most flexible balance sheets in its sector.

Myles Lee, Chief Executive, said today:

"Residential and non-residential markets declined during 2009 in both Europe and the US, with government-funded infrastructure investment only partially compensating. We expect a difficult demand backdrop through much of 2010 with continuing declines in non-residential activity across our markets not helped by a poor start to the year as a result of prolonged severe weather in Europe and North America during January and February. The significant adjustments to our cost base achieved over the past three years and our ongoing restructuring measures, together with our substantial balance sheet capacity, have strengthened the Group operationally and position CRH well to respond to upside demand developments and to avail of value-enhancing acquisition opportunities as these arise across our markets."