Terrorist attacks slow CRH

THE New York business of Irish building materials group CRH suffered major disruption following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and it is continuing to hit demand from residential and non-residential construction companies.

CRH finance director Harry Sheridan was in New York on 11 September and saw the ensuing problems. The group sends aggregates in barges and other vessels up the Hudson River and Sheridan said these were prevented from sailing for two weeks.

No redundancies are planned in the US but the Dublin group is to close its clay products factory in Germany at a cost of up to e4m (£2.5m).

Sheridan is forecasting 2001 pre-tax profits will be above the record e697m in 2000 in 'the range e760m to e790m'.