-James Hardie Industries on Tuesday raised its fiscal 2022 earnings forecast for a second time this year, as it counts on strong demand for its fibre cement products from a booming U.S. housing market.
The world’s largest fibre cement maker now expects full-year adjusted net operating profit between $580 million and $600 million, up from its previous forecast of $550 million to $590 million.
Demand for homes remained strong in the United States, James Hardie’s biggest market, in the first half, with prices also rising due to a persistent shortage of raw materials and labour.
The firm’s North American business is “poised to continue to drive strong net sales growth with strong returns while gaining market share,” Chief Executive Officer Jack Truong said in a statement https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20211109/pdf/452qt0xk9ppfdk.pdf.
James Hardie’s North American business, the biggest revenue contributor, brought in $1.21 billion in net sales for the first-half, up 25% from last year.
The Dublin-based company’s adjusted net operating profit for six months ended Sept. 30 came in at $289.1 million, up from the $209.8 million a year ago, boosted by higher pricing in the booming U.S. housing market. (https://bit.ly/3BWouAm)
James Hardie also declared an interim dividend of 40 U.S. cents per share.
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Sriraj Kalluvila)