CRH weathers the coronavirus storm with impressive update

The building materials giant last week posted earnings before ebitda of $3.4 billion for the first nine months of 2020, making light of tough trading conditions

Albert Manifold, chief executive officer of CRH: ‘We deliberately held our hands. It's not because we lack appetite, it's not because we lack the capital.’ Picture: Bloomberg

Albert Manifold, the veteran CRH chief executive, was answering a question from an analyst on an earnings call last Tuesday when he transported those who were listening back to the first quarter of the year.

“Everything went off the edge of a cliff,” he said. “Nobody knew whether this was for three weeks, three months or three years.”

Against that backdrop, and despite an expected non-cash impairment of $800 million for the year due to ...