James Hardie Ltd (ASX: JHX) shares closed 14% higher at $21.68 today after the building materials and cement business reported a stronger-than-expected start to its financial year 2020 that ends March 31, 2019.
For Q1 FY 2020 James Hardie reported a net profit of US$86.5 million on revenue of US$656.8 million. The adjusted net quarterly profit came in at US$90.2 million which represents 13% growth over the prior corresponding period, with sales up 1%.
James Hardie CEO, Jack Truong, commented: "Our North America Fiber Cement segment delivered very good volume growth in a down market while generating EBIT margin at the top end of our target range. North America housing market demand was soft across most geographies and customer segments in the first six months of calendar year 2019."
In total the group paid out US36 cents (A$0.53c) per share in dividends over FY 2019 to place it on an FX-adjusted yield of 2.45%.
Other building materials business such as Boral Ltd (ASX: BLD) have suffered a tough FY 2019 with significant share price falls.
