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Date

Friday, May 1, 2026 at 8 a.m. ET

Call participants

  • Chief Financial Officer — Jim Mintern
  • Chief Executive Officer, Americas — Randy Lake
  • Chief Financial Officer and Group Finance Director — Nancy Buese

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Takeaways

  • Total revenues -- $7.4 billion, up 9%, attributed to strong demand, disciplined execution, and contributions from acquisitions.
  • Adjusted EBITDA -- $580 million, 18% above prior year, with 70 basis points of margin expansion.
  • Americas Material Solutions revenue -- Up 21%, with robust volumes across all product lines.
  • Essential Materials segment revenues -- 31% higher, driven by a 14% increase in aggregates volumes and a 10% increase in cement volumes; mix-adjusted aggregates pricing rose 5%, but reported prices declined 1% for both aggregates and cement due to mix.
  • Road Solutions revenue -- Increased by 16%, supported by higher asphalt and ready-mixed concrete volumes, and paving activity.
  • Americas Building Solutions revenue -- Building and infrastructure revenues rose 4%; Outdoor Living Solutions revenues fell 3% because of a delayed season start.
  • International Solutions revenue -- Grew 5%, leading to a 32% increase in adjusted EBITDA, and an additional 130 basis points in margin expansion.
  • Portfolio management -- Three non-core divestitures agreed for total consideration of $1.9 billion, including Lawn and Garden ($1.1 billion), and MoistureShield, with closures staged through 2026.
  • Acquisition spend -- $900 million committed to nine acquisitions year to date, including a $700 million agreement to acquire Axios Water.
  • Shareholder returns -- $400 million returned via buybacks, and a new $300 million tranche commencing with completion targeted by July 28, 2026.
  • Dividend increase -- Quarterly dividend raised by 5%, continuing the company’s long-term dividend growth policy.
  • 2026 financial guidance -- Reaffirmed adjusted EBITDA of $8.1-$8.5 billion, net income of $3.9-$4.1 billion, and diluted EPS of $5.6-$6.5.
  • M&A net impact -- $1.9 billion divested and $900 million acquired nets to an expected $200 million incremental EBITDA contribution in 2026.
  • Energy costs -- Account for about 5% of total annual revenues; management maintains a mature nine-month rolling hedging program for cost visibility.
  • Aggregate outlook -- Low single-digit volume growth, and mid single-digit pricing growth targeted, with Q1 mix-adjusted pricing at 5%.
  • Cement outlook -- Low single-digit volume and price growth anticipated in the Americas for 2026, with consistent trends internationally.
  • Cost inflation -- Mid single-digit inflation expected across labor, raw materials, maintenance, and subcontractors.
  • Winter Fill Program -- Off-season storage covers half of annual liquid requirements, providing cost procurement advantage and supply certainty.
  • Public infrastructure funding -- Approximately 50% of IIJA highway funds remain undistributed, and 2026 U.S. DOT budgets are up 6%.
  • Financial capacity -- Management estimates about $40 billion of capacity over five years for growth investments, and shareholder returns.

Summary

CRH (CRH 1.60%) delivered fiscal first-quarter revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and margin expansion well ahead of prior-year levels, driven by volume growth in key segments and positive acquisition contributions. The company executed $1.9 billion in divestitures and $900 million in acquisitions, highlighted by the pending Axios Water deal, to support portfolio optimization in high-growth infrastructure sectors. Guidance for 2026 was reaffirmed for adjusted EBITDA, net income, and EPS, with incremental EBITDA of $200 million expected from net M&A activity. Management continues active capital returns through buybacks and dividend increases, underpinned by a substantial financial capacity for further growth allocation. A disciplined hedging strategy and self-supply programs aim to maintain margin expansion despite persistent cost inflation.

  • Jim Mintern stated that 2026 guidance assumes "normal seasonal weather patterns for the remainder of the year and no further major dislocations in the geopolitical or macroeconomic environment."
  • Nancy Buese said, "we expect to have approximately $40 billion of financial capacity over the next five years to invest for future growth and deliver further returns to our shareholders."
  • Randy Lake emphasized, "We track this every week—the quantum that we are bidding continues to grow," reflecting increased visibility and confidence in project backlog.
  • Strategic focus includes continued portfolio reshaping with future divestitures, and targeted acquisitions across aggregates, cementitious, roads, and water verticals.
  • Management highlighted integration-driven synergy achievements, using the Hunter Cement Plant and EcoMaterial as recent examples of exceeding synergy expectations.
  • The company projects favorable long-term infrastructure and reindustrialization demand, supported by public funding, despite short-term subdued residential new build activity.

Industry glossary

  • IIJA: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a major U.S. federal funding source for transportation and infrastructure projects.
  • Winter Fill Program: Off-season procurement and storage strategy for road construction materials to ensure supply and cost control for peak construction periods.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Jim Mintern: Thanks, Tom. Over the next 20 minutes or so, we will take you through a brief presentation of our first quarter results highlighting the key components of our performance for the first three months of the year, as well as providing you with an update on our expectations for the year as a whole. We are also going to discuss our recent portfolio management and capital allocation activities, and why we believe our superior strategy will continue to deliver industry-leading growth and value creation for our shareholders. First on slide four, some key messages from our results announcement. I am pleased to report a strong first quarter performance backed by our superior strategy, unmatched scale, and connected portfolio of businesses.

Overall, we delivered further growth in revenues, adjusted EBITDA, and margin compared to the prior-year period, reflecting good momentum from early-season project activity, disciplined commercial execution, and positive contributions from acquisitions. We remain focused on allocating and reallocating capital for higher growth as we continue to build a connected portfolio. Year to date, we have agreed to divest three non-core businesses for total consideration of $1.9 billion, reflecting our relentless focus on the active management of our portfolio to maximize shareholder value. We have also announced that we are investing approximately $900 million in nine value-accretive acquisitions.

The largest of these is an agreement to acquire Axios Water, further strengthening our position as a leading U.S. water infrastructure player, and I will take you through that in further detail later in the presentation. We also continue to return significant amounts of cash to our shareholders. Our ongoing share buyback program has returned approximately $400 million so far this year, and today we are commencing a further quarterly tranche of $300 million to be completed no later than July 28, 2026.

I am also pleased to report that the board has declared a quarterly dividend of [inaudible] per share, representing an increase of 5% on the prior year, in line with our strong financial position and policy of consistent long-term dividend growth. Notwithstanding the current macroeconomic uncertainty, the underlying demand environment across our key markets remains positive, and we are pleased to reaffirm our financial guidance for 2026.

Reflecting a strong start to the year as well as the net impact of divestitures and acquisitions agreed year to date, and assuming normal seasonal weather patterns for the remainder of the year and no further major dislocations in the geopolitical or macroeconomic environment, we expect full-year adjusted EBITDA to be between $8.1 and $8.5 billion, representing another strong year of growth and value creation for CRH plc. Turning now to slide five and our financial highlights for the first three months of the year. Overall, a robust performance and a good start to the season, with revenues, adjusted EBITDA, and margin all well ahead of the prior-year period.

Total revenues of $7.4 billion were 9% ahead, supported by good underlying demand, disciplined commercial execution, and contributions from acquisitions. This translated into adjusted EBITDA of $580 million, 18% ahead, and a further 70 basis points of margin expansion, reflecting continued operational improvements and strong cost discipline across our businesses. Turning now to slide six, and here you can see our growth algorithm, which drives our performance year after year. As the leading infrastructure play in North America, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on three large and growing megatrends: transportation, water, and reindustrialization, which we believe will support significant growth and value creation for our business going forward.

Next, the CRH winning way, the force multiplier that enables us to capitalize on these growing infrastructure megatrends. This is what really sets CRH apart. Through our winning way, we execute our superior strategy with discipline and focus, driving leading performance across 4 thousand locations through a culture of continuous improvement. As responsible stewards of our shareholders' capital, we leverage our proven growth capabilities to build leadership positions of scale in attractive high-growth markets. All of this is supported by four key enablers: customer centricity, empowered teams, unmatched scale, and our connected portfolio of businesses. Overall, our growth algorithm underpins our proven track record of consistent long-term delivery and our position as the leading compounder of capital in our industry.

Now at this point, I will ask Randy to take you through the performance of each of our businesses.

Randy Lake: Thanks, Jim. Hello, everyone. Turning to slide eight and starting with Americas Material Solutions, which is supported by our strategic alignment with growing infrastructure megatrends. Overall, our business had a strong start to the year. Total revenues were 21% ahead of the prior-year period, with robust volumes across all product lines reflecting good early-season project activity, strong commercial execution, and contributions from acquisitions. In Essential Materials, first quarter revenues were 31% ahead. Our aggregates volumes increased by 14% while pricing was 1% behind, reflecting geographic and project-related mix effects. On a mix-adjusted basis, our aggregate pricing was 5% ahead. Cement volumes were 10% ahead, while pricing declined by 1%, reflecting regional variances across our operating footprint.

In Road Solutions, growth in both asphalt and ready-mixed concrete volumes along with increased paving activity resulted in Q1 revenues 16% ahead of the prior-year period. Now let me take you through some examples of the projects that have been driving good early-season activity across our business, leveraging our scale, capabilities, and connected portfolio. In our roads business, we are involved in the widening and reconstruction of I-95 in South Carolina, supplying over 500 thousand tons of asphalt and 250 thousand tons of aggregates. In the reindustrialization space, where we are supplying over 500 thousand tons of aggregates and cementitious materials, we are active in the construction of a large chip plant in Boise, Idaho through our fully connected offering.

We are also participating in the construction of a large data center facility in Michigan, delivering over 1.2 million tons of aggregates in the first quarter alone. Of course, it is worth noting that this is the seasonally less active part of the year, and as the construction season gets fully underway across many of our markets, we expect a significant quarter for our Americas Material Solutions business. I am encouraged by the positive momentum we are seeing in our bidding activity and our backlogs. Next to Americas Building Solutions on slide nine, where our business delivered a solid performance in the first quarter despite contending with adverse weather conditions in many regions and subdued new build residential activity.

Revenues in our building and infrastructure solutions business were 4% ahead of the prior year, supported by positive data center and utility infrastructure demand. In Outdoor Living Solutions, while the underlying demand environment for residential repair and remodel activity remains resilient, a delayed start to the season due to adverse weather resulted in Q1 revenues 3% behind the prior year. Moving to International Solutions now on slide 10, where our business delivered a strong first quarter performance supported by good pricing momentum and disciplined cost control. Total revenue growth of 5% translated into a 32% increase in adjusted EBITDA and a further 130 basis points of margin expansion, reflecting improved operational efficiencies and contributions from acquisitions.

In Western Europe, activity levels were supported by infrastructure and reindustrialization demand, while in Central and Eastern Europe, activity levels are recovering following adverse winter weather across the region. In Australia, our business continues to perform very well, benefiting from positive underlying demand, operational improvements, and synergy delivery from recent acquisitions. So overall, a strong start to the year for our business. At this point, I will hand you over to Jim to take you through our recent capital allocation activities in further detail.

Jim Mintern: Thanks, Randy. Active portfolio management is a continuous process in CRH plc. We are constantly allocating and reallocating our capital to maximize value for our shareholders. As you can see here on slide 12, year to date we have agreed three strategic divestitures of non-core businesses for total consideration of $1.9 billion. In addition to the previously announced divestiture of Construction Accessories, we have reached agreements to divest our Lawn and Garden business, a manufacturer and supplier of mulch, soil, and decorative stone, for $1.1 billion, and also MoistureShield, a manufacturer of composite decking.

The divestiture of MoistureShield closed in early April 2026, while the Construction Accessories and Lawn and Garden transactions are expected to close in 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Together, these transactions demonstrate our commitment to the active management of our portfolio and the reallocation of capital into higher-growth, more connected businesses to maximize value for our shareholders. At this point, on slide 13, I would like to provide an overview of our U.S. water infrastructure platform, one of our four key growth platforms which we highlighted during last year's Investor Day. We are a leading player in this attractive high-growth market, benefiting from resilient public funding and non-discretionary investment.

Reindustrialization and an aging water infrastructure network with significant investment needs are the key drivers of demand, and with approximately one third of the U.S. water infrastructure more than 50 years old, the need to upgrade the systems that collect, transport, and treat water is critical. Our national reach and expertise give us a significant advantage as investment in this area accelerates. As you can see on the slide, we have strategically focused on two key areas: water transmission and water quality, the fastest-growing segments of the over $100 billion U.S. water ecosystem.

In addition to a robust funding backdrop, the market also remains very fragmented, with significant runway for further growth through value-accretive acquisitions, enabling us to leverage our unmatched scale, connected portfolio, and proven growth capabilities. Our water infrastructure platform is also closely connected to our leading aggregates, cementitious, and road platforms. Over 80% of the products we produce in our water business consume aggregates and cementitious materials, and since over 85% of roads require water management systems, the strength of our water platform reinforces the benefits of our connected portfolio and shared customer base. Turning now to slide 14.

In the water quality space, we are pleased to announce the expansion of our existing water infrastructure offering with an agreement to acquire Axios Water, a leading provider of water quality and nutrient removal solutions in North America, for approximately $700 million. This acquisition will further strengthen our existing position as a leading water infrastructure player in the United States. With a strong, experienced management team and best-in-class customer-centric design and engineering capabilities, it is an excellent fit and highly complementary to our existing water platform. Integrating Axios into our connected portfolio will enhance our customer offering and drive significant commercial, operational, and self-supply synergies.

It will also strengthen our IP portfolio across the water value chain through its extensive R&D capabilities. Subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2026, and we will keep you updated as that progresses. Overall, our agreement to acquire Axios, along with a further eight value-accretive acquisitions completed year to date, demonstrates the continued build-out of our connected portfolio and our commitment to allocating capital into attractive high-growth markets. I will now ask Nancy to take you through why we believe our superior strategy will continue to deliver industry-leading growth and value creation for our shareholders.

Nancy Buese: Thanks, Jim. Hello, everyone. As you can see here on slide 16, we believe our unmatched scale and connected portfolio delivers higher and more consistent long-term growth. As the number one infrastructure play in North America, we benefit from increased exposure to publicly funded construction, which is less volatile and more predictable compared to other areas of construction. We have built leading positions in attractive, high-growth markets aligned with three secular megatrends: transportation, water, and reindustrialization, which together represent one of the most compelling growth opportunities in decades. We drive performance excellence through a culture of continuous improvement, replicated at scale across each of our 4 thousand locations.

You can see this in our first quarter performance, with further margin expansion driven by the operational improvements and strategic growth CapEx investments we have made across our business. Supported by our strong balance sheet and cash generation capabilities, we expect to have approximately $40 billion of financial capacity over the next five years to invest for future growth and deliver further returns to our shareholders. Our fully connected offering across aggregates, cementitious, roads, and water also enables us to become more deeply embedded with our customers, driving higher pull-through demand for our essential materials and capturing a greater share of wallet on construction projects.

It also results in lower capital intensity and a more variable cost base, enabling us to adapt quickly to any challenges that come our way while maximizing growth, cash generation, and return on capital. Combined with our unmatched scale, the connected nature of our portfolio provides us with superior growth opportunities, multiple avenues to grow both organically and through acquisitions, a strong recurring M&A pipeline, and the ability to deliver enhanced synergies supported by our proven growth capabilities. In fact, when we look at our track record of synergy delivery in recent years, we typically achieve a two to two-and-a-half times reduction in our entry multiple, which really highlights the value we can create for our shareholders.

A recent example of this is our 2024 acquisition of the Hunter Cement Plant in Texas, which has delivered synergies well ahead of our original expectations and our typical run rate. This was driven by operational improvements, increased self-supply, and logistics optimization. Similarly, although earlier in the integration process, our 2025 acquisition of EcoMaterial is also performing strongly with some good early wins on synergy delivery. Overall, our unmatched scale and connected portfolio enables us to deliver higher and more consistent long-term growth. On slide 17, you can see the consistency of our performance over the last decade.

In addition to growing our top line, we have delivered 15% compound annual growth in adjusted EBITDA, approximately 110 basis points of average annual margin expansion, and 18% compound annual growth in diluted earnings per share. Our track record across each of these financial metrics demonstrates our ability to deliver consistent long-term growth and performance. From a total shareholder return perspective, the story is just as compelling. Over the same time frame, we have generated a compound annual total shareholder return of 19%, highlighting our position as a leading compounder of capital and a powerful platform for shareholder value creation.

Jim Mintern: Thanks, Nancy. Now before I provide an update on our financial expectations for the full year, let me share our latest thoughts on the outlook across our markets. On to slide 19 and first to transportation, where the demand backdrop is robust, supported by the continued rollout of federal funding through the IIJA, where approximately 50% of highway funds are yet to be deployed. State-level funding is also strong with 2026 DOT budgets up 6% on the prior year. In fact, 2026 is expected to be a record year for investment in transportation infrastructure, which bodes well for our business given our unmatched scale and market-leading position.

We remain encouraged by the progress being made in Congress regarding a multiyear reauthorization of highway funding, with continued bipartisan support for increased infrastructure investment in the years ahead. In our international business, we expect robust demand in infrastructure to continue, supported by significant investment from government and EU funding programs. We also expect to see continued demand for water infrastructure with strong growth projected in the areas of transmission and water quality. In reindustrialization, we expect continued strong demand for large-scale manufacturing and data center investment in both the U.S. and our international markets, and with the benefits of our unmatched scale and connected customer offering, we are well positioned for growth in this area going forward.

In the residential sector, we expect repair and remodel demand in the U.S. to remain resilient, while new build activity remains subdued as a result of ongoing affordability challenges. As we have said in the past, this is not a demand issue, and we believe the long-term fundamentals in this market remain very attractive, supported by favorable demographics and significant levels of underbuild. In summary, the overall trend is positive for our business, with our strategic focus on growing infrastructure megatrends and the benefits of the CRH winning way leaving us uniquely positioned to capitalize on the strong growth opportunities that lie ahead. Turning now to slide 20, and against that backdrop, we have reaffirmed our financial guidance for 2026.

Reflecting the strong start to the year as well as the net impact of divestitures and acquisitions agreed year to date, and assuming normal seasonal weather patterns for the remainder of the year and no further major dislocations in the geopolitical or macroeconomic environment, we expect full-year adjusted EBITDA to be between $8.1 and $8.5 billion, net income between $3.9 and $4.1 billion, and diluted earnings per share between $5.6 and $6.5, representing another strong year of growth and value creation for CRH plc. It is still very early in the construction season, but we will update you on our expectations as the year unfolds and as the season gets fully underway across our markets. That concludes our presentation today.

I will now hand you back to the moderator to coordinate the Q&A session of our call.

Operator: Thank you. We will now open the call for questions. As a reminder to those on the phone, press 1 if you would like to ask a question. We will now pause briefly while we register questions in the Q&A roster. We will take our first question from Adrian Huerta with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

Analyst: Congrats on the results. My question is if you can provide further color on your guidance for this year after the transactions that you did and the underlying assumptions that you have.

Jim Mintern: Good morning. Good to hear you. I might ask Nancy to come back at the end on some of the detail, the puts and takes in terms of the full-year guidance, but we are very pleased this morning to be reaffirming our full-year guidance, which is really reflecting the strong start we have had to the year in Q1. At this stage of the year, what we look for is that all the key building blocks are in place early in the season to deliver on the guidance. What we are seeing across our markets right now is a positive demand backdrop.

We have seen it in the Q1 performance and into March and April with strong early-season project activity, and we are seeing good growth across areas such as roads and reindustrialization, which are performing well. The guidance is supported by the continued rollout of the IIJA and very strong local state funding, and that is providing us with really good backlogs at this point of the year, which are nicely up year on year. In addition, we have had a really good start from a pricing perspective.

Pricing momentum across all our businesses has been good in the first quarter with really strong execution across our commercial teams, and we have had a very good winter maintenance program as well this season. That gives us the confidence in terms of giving the guidance today and for another year of margin expansion. So putting all that together, we are pleased to reiterate the guidance for the year with adjusted EBITDA between $8.1 and $8.5 billion. Nancy?

Nancy Buese: We have had $1.9 billion of divestments announced and about $900 million of acquisitions. When you think about the scope impact for 2026, we would expect about $200 million of net incremental EBITDA contribution. As a reminder, that is unchanged from our previous guidance, which had already included the divestment of the Construction Accessories business. That now also reflects the impact of the further acquisitions and divestments announced today. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of David S. MacGregor with Longbow Research. Please go ahead.

David S. MacGregor: Yes, good morning, everyone. I wanted to ask you about what we are seeing in energy costs, and with the energy price spike, how are you thinking about the impact on your vertically integrated business model and the extent to which your hedging programs allow you to mitigate that impact?

Jim Mintern: Morning, David. Clearly, we have seen a lot of volatility and spikes in energy in recent months, but maybe first to contextualize it and size it. For us, energy is approximately 5% of our total annual revenues, and as we have said in previous earnings calls, we have a very well-managed and mature hedging policy in place, and we typically cover out on a rolling nine-month basis. That gives us really good visibility for our energy costs for the year ahead. Right now, we are focusing on our guidance as we just reaffirmed this morning and really looking for another year of margin expansion.

I might ask Randy to give a bit of flavor as to how the commercial teams are responding in the field to this recent energy spike.

Randy Lake: I would say the teams certainly do this on a market-by-market basis. We have very experienced commercial teams who focus on value delivery, and we have dealt with periods of volatility before where we have seen significant spikes and shocks. Our focus is on a market-by-market basis making sure that we recover any increases we experience in input costs and fundamentally protect margins. It is about advancing the expectations we are calling out today in terms of growing margins. Additionally, we have already started midyear price increases in a very targeted way. If that uncertainty continues, we will continue to evolve that strategy.

We are playing off the front foot, being very proactive in the field, and the teams have done a terrific job protecting those margins.

Operator: Next question comes from the line of Anthony Pettinari with Citi. Please go ahead.

Anthony Pettinari: Good morning. Jim, circling back to your full-year guidance, could you talk a little bit more about the underlying assumptions for aggregates and cement volume and price assumptions for the year?

Jim Mintern: Absolutely, Anthony. Good to hear from you. I will ask Randy to give you the specifics by markets on volume and prices, but as I said in the opening question, a really good start to the year. Overall strong underlying demand, we see it in our backlogs, and a really good start to the year across all the businesses from a pricing perspective. Maybe Randy?

Randy Lake: Certainly, Q1 is off to a really good start. Volumes up on aggregates 14% and cement 10%. The volume within the context of our backlogs really gives us that six-to-nine-month window in terms of underlying activity levels, and we continue to see both bidding activity and, importantly, what we are winning—both on a revenue and volume standpoint—improve year over year. That reaffirms what we called out at the beginning of the year: for aggregates, a low single-digit improvement in volume supported by mid single-digit pricing. On pricing for aggregates, the most important metric in Q1, because you can get some volatility, is mix-adjusted pricing. We see that at 5%.

That is indicative of what we should expect to see for the full year, and it supports our mid single-digit price expectations. Looking at cement in the Americas in particular, momentum is good with a strong backlog and early start to the season. You will see regional differences. We are coming off three exceptional years in terms of pricing, but when we look at the backlogs, we would expect low single-digit improvement in volumes and low single-digit improvement in pricing as well. On an international basis—Europe and Australia—the weather impacted our business in Europe in January and February, but it recovered very nicely in March and April, reflecting good project backlog and underlying demand.

That gives us visibility for the full year: again, low single-digit volume improvement in our international platform and mid single-digit improvement in pricing. You can see that coming through in Q1, a 3% improvement from last year. All the signals are strong and reiterate our guidance and demand picture.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Trey Grooms with Stephens. Please go ahead.

Trey Grooms: Hey, good morning, and thanks for taking my question. As typical, you continue to be very active in portfolio optimization. Jim, maybe you could give us a little additional color on the year-to-date divestments, and then also, how should we be thinking about divestitures going forward?

Jim Mintern: Sure, Trey. Good to hear you. It was a very good first quarter in terms of portfolio activity, and we are very pleased with it. When we look at portfolio activity in CRH plc, it is continuous—it is not a one-off event. We announced this morning three strategic divestitures of non-core businesses for total consideration of $1.9 billion. Every capital allocation decision—whether it is on the investment side, the divestment side, or growth CapEx—is always looked at through the lens of maximizing shareholder value. These were good businesses that we are divesting, but we had the opportunity to recycle the proceeds into faster-growing and more connected platforms.

In this case, we took the opportunity to increase our exposure to the faster-growing water infrastructure sector. Going forward, it should be more of the same; you should expect us to continue to look for opportunities to optimize our portfolio.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Dudas with Vertical Research Partners. Please go ahead.

Michael Dudas: Hi, good morning, Nancy, Jim, and Randy. You mentioned, Jim, in your prepared remarks a positive outlook on the next reauthorization of IIJA. Maybe you or Randy can share a little bit of your view on what you are hearing from your contacts—size of what will be provided, timing—and whether there would be any issues that would disrupt later this year to early next year project bidding if there is a continuing resolution or Congress does not get its act together before September 30?

Randy Lake: Good question. Taking a step back, Jim called it out in the opening remarks in terms of the underlying funding with IIJA yet to be deployed—almost 50% has yet to hit the street. Combine that with the proactive measures the states have taken over the last number of years, and you have a really strong view in terms of not only short-term but long-term funding and the demand environment. I mentioned on the pricing side what gives us optimism around the ability to deliver is certainly our backlogs. We track this every week—the quantum that we are bidding continues to grow. We are winning our fair share; revenues and overall volumes are improving year over year.

You are seeing the benefits of both IIJA and the states coming through nicely. What we are hearing is there are positive conversations from the administration and from Congress, both in the House and the Senate. Fundamentally, there is an understanding and appreciation of the need for investment. It has historically been bipartisan; there is no change in the conversations happening today. There is also an understanding that there needs to be a meaningful step-up in investment in core infrastructure, which is great for us when we talk about roads, bridges, and highways. So there is alignment around that, and we are optimistic that a bill will get passed in the second half of the year.

In terms of the quantum, numbers are all over the place, but fundamentally we believe—and hear—that it will be a meaningful step up from what we have today. If they cannot reach new legislation, we have been here before, and we would go into what they call a continuing resolution. What is interesting is that we are coming off peak levels of investment in terms of the IIJA, with a significant step up in 2026 from 2025, and record levels that will continue into 2027. That gives us and, more importantly, our customers—the states—a lot of surety in terms of demand not only in 2026 but into 2027 as well.

There is great support and good momentum in conversations; all those things will lead one way or the other to higher levels of investment and a good outlook for our business.

Operator: Next question comes from the line of Colin Sheridan with Davy. Please go ahead.

Colin Sheridan: Thanks. Good morning, guys. You have covered the energy side pretty well on the cost front. I was just wondering if you could give us an update on the more general cost environment and maybe an update on the winter fill program as well. Thanks.

Jim Mintern: Sure, Colin. Good morning. As we said in February, and as we continue to see, we are seeing inflation in other cost items beyond energy mainly in labor, raw materials, maintenance, and subcontractors. Overall, we continue to expect mid single-digit inflation in 2026 across those categories. That highlights the importance of the continued price momentum that we discussed earlier, which together give us the outlook of margin expansion for the year. In terms of the winter fill program in 2026, it is one of our key competitive advantages as part of our roads business, and it is unique to CRH plc.

Our off-season storage capability at scale—where we store about half our annual liquid requirement accumulated in the off-season—has been built up over several decades. It is one of the benefits of having scale in our road business and our connected portfolio. It gives us two key strategic advantages: first, on procurement, the ability to acquire at scale in the off-season with procurement advantages and certainty of costs before we head into the season; and second, security of supply. In certain parts of our business, you have a limited paving season that runs from about now to Thanksgiving, so it is important that we have product available to meet the backlogs and demand we have.

This year, we have had a very well-executed winter fill program. We are exactly where we want to be as the season shifts into top gear, and we are well positioned for another strong year of growth in our roads business in 2026.

Operator: We have time for one more question, and that question comes from Kathryn Thompson with Thompson Research Group. Please go ahead.

Kathryn Thompson: Thank you for taking my question today and for the details you provided in the prepared commentary and the Q&A. As we close today’s call, just one follow-up for further clarification and color on your acquisitions year to date. As you think about the divestitures—which were, as you said, non-core—and then the addition of Axios, how does the current pipeline of acquisitions look, and could you give a little more color on how that fits into the broad strategy that you outlined at your Investor Day last September? Thank you very much.

Jim Mintern: Sure, Kathryn. Absolutely. We have had a good start to the year in Q1 from an M&A perspective with nine acquisitions announced for a total of CHF 900 million, and they are spread across the four connected platforms—aggregates, cementitious, roads, and water. All of these platforms are beneficiaries of the large and growing infrastructure megatrends that we called out at our Investor Day. Before talking about Axios, a brief overview of our water infrastructure platform: it is a highly attractive core growth platform operating in high-growth markets supported by very strong secular tailwinds. It is also a sector with very significant investment needs, particularly in the U.S. after decades of underinvestment, and it has a robust public funding backdrop.

Over the last 50 years, we have been building a leading position in the water infrastructure space, primarily focusing on two key areas: transmission and water quality. This morning, we announced the acquisition of Axios. It is an excellent fit for our existing water infrastructure business and is consistent with our connected water strategy, strengthening our customer offering in the water quality area in particular. It makes us more deeply embedded with our customers, increasing our share of wallet on infrastructure projects.

From a synergy perspective, there is really good opportunity primarily on the commercial side, but also operational and self-supply synergies across our connected portfolio by being able to supply across some of the other platforms into Axios as well. On the pipeline, it is strong right now.

With our unmatched scale and connected portfolio, we have significant optionality for where we deploy capital, and you have seen that over the last 12 months where we have continued to invest across each of the four platforms: in the U.S. aggregates, the North American aggregates deal last year; EcoMaterial, a cementitious deal in September 2025; Tally Construction in the roads business last year; and in the water platform, the investment in Voda AI, and now the Axios deal. The pipeline is strong. We are continuing to build a backlog of optionality across each of those four platforms, but every capital allocation decision will be looked at through the lens of maximizing shareholder value.

Over the next five years, with an estimated $40 billion of financial capacity, we are well positioned to continue to deliver growth and value creation by deploying capital across those four growth platforms and regions.

Kathryn Thompson: Great. Thank you very much.

Jim Mintern: Well, that is all we have time for today. Thank you for your attention. As always, if you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to contact our Investor Relations team. We look forward to updating you again in July 2026 when we will report our results for the period. Thank you and have a good day, and stay safe.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.