Building materials firm CRH set to move London listing to New York

Building materials giant CRH is planning to shift its main stock market listing from London to New York, in a fresh blow to the UK markets.

The world’s largest construction materials firm told shareholders on Thursday that around three-quarters of its earnings came from North America, as it explained the proposals.

CRH, which is headquartered in Dublin and valued at over £30 billion, said “we have now come to the conclusion that a US primary listing would bring increased commercial, operational and acquisition opportunities for CRH”.

It comes amid continued questions over the current strength of London’s stock markets.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Cambridge-based technology giant ARM was looking at a US listing in favour of London, despite significant lobbying pressure by MPs.

Last year, plumbing and heating business Ferguson also left the FTSE 100 after moving its main listing to New York.

In February, Paddy Power’s parent firm Flutter also said it was considering a US share listing.

Trevor Green, head of UK equities at Aviva Investors, said: “Aviva Investors are significant shareholders in CRH and applaud management on their announcement of moving their listing from London to New York.

“The management has an excellent track record on capital allocation over the years but have never really been given the credit by investors.

“The timing is actually excellent for potential new US investors because if this move gets approval they are going to get the benefits of a company highly exposed to US infrastructure spending which is just starting to ramp up and also a company that has proved in this highly inflationary environment that they have strong pricing power.”

CRH’s listing update came as the group saw shares jump following a positive trading update.

The group told investors that revenues struck 32.7 billion US dollars (£27.3 billion) in 2022, increasing from 29.2 billion dollars (£24.4 billion) a year earlier.

Meanwhile, it recorded a 3.9 billion dollars (£3.25 billion) operating profit for the year.

It said it benefited from 15% growth in its materials business in the Americas, where like-for-like sales improved by 12%.