Both volumes and revenues were ahead of the prior year, including a full 10-month contribution from the former Hope Construction Materials business, which was part of the Group for only three months in the corresponding period of 2016.
Group sales volumes of aggregates increased by 47 per cent, asphalt by 2 per cent and concrete by 99 per cent. Our cement business is performing in line with our expectations1. Total Group revenue for the period increased by 56 per cent to approximately £561 million.
Assuming normal weather conditions for the remainder of the financial year, the Group's underlying EBIT for the full year is expected to be in line with current market expectations2.
Outlook
Forecasters expect construction output to grow modestly in 2017 and remain broadly flat next year before returning to growth in 2019. More significantly for us, new infrastructure and housing work – which together account for approximately two-thirds of our end-use markets – are expected to show healthy growth over the next two years.
We continue to invest in our business at record levels, which is yielding appreciable benefits in terms of enhanced performance and improved productivity. This organic improvement gives us confidence that we will make further progress in 2018.
We will announce our preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2017 on 7 March 2018.