Boral upbeat as shares hit by cold snap

A PROLONGED winter in the US, with heavy rain in Texas, has delivered a hit to Boral’s earnings for the past quarter, sending shares in the building products supplier sharply lower.

In a trading update yesterday, Boral said earnings in its biggest market, North America, were below expectations in the three months to March.

Earnings from its Australian operations were also below expectations, the company said, citing a kiln outage, challenging conditions in Western Australia and rain in Queensland.

But Boral said it nonetheless expected earnings before interest and tax from North America to increase this half by 10 per cent to 25 per cent compared with the first half.

Earnings in Australia were expected to rise 10 to 20 per cent for the year to June.

Higher property earnings, including a lower tax rate this financial year, would more than offset the impact of lower- than- expected earnings from Boral North America, the company said.

A strong June quarter was expected for Boral Australia, the group said, especially if weather conditions were as favourable as they were in the same period a year ago.

Boral also announced it would sell its Prospect Masonry property at Greystanes, in western Sydney.

The sale is expected to contribute about $ 56 million in earnings for the full year.