Price rises and cost cutting have enabled building products group James Hardie to offset lower sales volumes in Australasia and post a better annual profit.
The group on Tuesday lifted net earnings for the year to the end of March 11.5 per cent to $US512 million as revenue rose 4 per cent to $US3.8 billion.
James Hardie shares were nearly 8 per cent higher at $36.70 as at 10.45am.
The group said sales volumes in its Asia-Pacific segment – predominantly Australia and New Zealand – were down 9 per cent across the year on the back of softening housing markets, but sale revenues improved 1 per cent to $US787m thanks to a 10 per cent increase in prices.
“We are controlling what we can control,” chief executive Aaron Erter said.
He said James Hardie was focused on responding to “significant changes in market conditions”, while accelerating its competitive advantages.
“We remain focused on continued strong execution of our strategy to drive profitable share gain,” Mr Erter said.
James Hardie is a major supplier of fiber gypsum and cement-bonded boards that are used in a wide-range of internal and external building products.
The annual results included the simultaneous disclosure of fourth quarter numbers that showed adjusted net profit was down 18 per cent at $US146.2m on a 5 per cent drop in sales to $US917.8m.
The company warned that housing markets, particularly in the US, were “still very uncertain”.
It is tipping first quarter profit for the 2023-24 year to come in between $US145m to $US165m.