traded as iseq crg lse crh nyse crh industry building materials founded irish cement limited 1936 roadstone limited 1949 & merger 1970 headquarters dublin ireland key people nicky hartery chairman albert manifold ceo products cement aggregates readymixed concrete asphalt bitumen and agricultural and or chemical lime revenue 23 635 million 2015 1 operating income 1 378 million 2015 1 net income 729 million 2015 1 number of employees 76 000 2015 2 website www.crh.ie crh plc is the parent company for an international group of diversified building materials businesses which are engaged in the manufacture and supply of a wide range of building materials and in the operation of builders merchanting and diy stores . the company is incorporated and domiciled in ireland where it ranks as the largest irish company . 3 crh has a primary listing on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 100 index . it has secondary listings on the irish stock exchange where it is a constituent of the iseq 20 and new york stock exchange . contents 1 history 1.1 europe 1.2 us 1.3 central and eastern europe 1.4 emerging markets 2 governance and operating structure 2.1 headquarters and board 2.2 structure 3 financial performance 4 controversy 4.1 cartel accusations 4.1.1 europe 4.1.2 united states 4.2 allegations of corrupt payments to politicians 4.2.1 poland 4.2.2 ireland 4.2.3 illegal ansbacher bank 4.2.4 sale of glen ding lands 4.2.5 public criticism 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the company whose name is an abbreviation of cement roadstone holdings was formed through the merger in 1970 of cement ltd established in 1936 and roadstone ltd established in 1949 . 4 the company went public on the irish stock exchange in 1973 . 5 europe edit crh s first international purchase was van neerbos a concrete products producer and distributor in the netherlands . other acquisitions in europe followed throughout the 1970s and 1980s including businesses in the united kingdom spain the netherlands and germany in the 1990s the company moved into france with a number of buys including raboni sa a builders merchant company and drainage systems and concrete vault manufacturing group prefaest sa . 6 in 1999 crh bought finnsementti oy finland s only cement producer and lohja rudus oy finland s country s top producer of aggregates and ready mix concrete . 7 the company entered switzerland in 2000 with the eur 425 million purchase of jura group adding cement concrete and aggregates operations as well as a regional distribution network . 8 in the following year crh took an interest in nesher israel cement works the only cement producer in that country by taking a 25 % stake in its holding company mashav . 9 in july 2003 it agreed to pay eur 693 million to acquire cementbouw a market leading do it yourself store chain and building materials producer in the netherlands 10 in 2004 crh paid 429m to purchase a 49 percent stake in portuguese cement producer secil . it sold that stake again in 2012 for 574m following a ruling on a shareholder dispute by an arbitration tribunal at the paris based international chamber of commerce 11 in february 2015 crh agreed to purchase the uk building materials producer lafarge tarmac . 12 us edit crh entered the united states in 1978 by buying amcor a concrete products group in utah which would then form the basis of the company s u.s. division which is now called oldcastle inc. . subsequent large purchases in the us include callanan industries a new york state based aggregates and asphalt producer in 1985 13 betco block & products inc of bethesda maryland in 1990 14 balf co. in connecticut lebanon rock in pennsylvania keating in massachusetts and sullivan lafarge in new york state in 1994 15 allied building products which specialized in roofing and cladding products and tilcon a major road construction specialist in the northeast in 1996 16 ohio s shelly group in 2000 17 mount hope rock products based in new jersey in 2002 18 and ashland paving and construction apac of atlanta in 2006 . apac was the company s largest ever deal . 19 in 2007 it purchased four companies worth a total of 350 million 251 million to add to its us materials division these companies are conrad yelvington distributors inc. cydi eugene sand & gravel cessford construction and mcminn s asphalt and prospect agrregates . 20 also in 2008 crh agreed to purchase landscape paver pavestone for 540 million . 21 central and eastern europe edit in 1995 crh made its first entry into new or emerging markets when it bought holding cement polski which later gained majority control of cementownia ozarow one of the poland s major cement producers . 22 that acquisition also marked the first crh cement manufacturing operation outside ireland . by the end of the decade crh numbered more than a dozen operations in poland and it has since invested in cement production in neighbouring ukraine 23 most recently with the announcement of an agreement to buy mykolaiv cement from rival lafarge . 24 emerging markets edit in 2006 crh took a new turn and invested in a cement factory based in the heilongjiang region in china . 25 it has built on that presence acquiring a 26 % stake in the jilin yatai group and an option to acquire 49 % in the future . 26 in 2008 crh agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in indian cement company my home industries ltd. for 290 million 452 million . 27 crh has confirmed that it is interesting in looking at other opportunities in india 28 crh global production sites governance and operating structure edit headquarters and board edit crh is registered in ireland and headquartered in dublin city . it has a board of 12 members 29 three directors are executives of the group albert manifold chief executive ireland maeve carton finance director ireland mark towe chief executive officer oldcastle inc. us each of the nine remaining sits as a non executive director nicky hartery chairman ireland ernst b rtschi switzerland bill egan us utz hellmuth felcht germany john kennedy uk jan maarten de jong netherlands donald a. mcgovern jr. us heather ann mcsharry ireland . dan o connor ireland mr o connor is the senior independent non executive director 30 structure edit the crh business today is structured into four activities 31 heavyside materials heavyside products lightside products distribution financial performance edit the following is a summary of financial data 32 m 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 revenue 23 635 18 912 18 031 18 659 18 081 17 173 17 373 20 887 20 992 18 737 14 449 12 755 ebitda 2 219 1 641 1 475 1 640 1 656 1 615 1 803 2 665 2 860 2 456 1 957 1 740 depreciation 887 680 725 748 742 786 794 781 739 664 556 516 amortisation 55 44 650 47 43 131 54 43 35 25 9 4 ebit 1 277 917 100 845 871 698 955 1 841 2 086 1 767 1 392 1 220 profit on disposals 101 77 26 230 55 55 26 69 57 40 20 11 profit before finance costs 1 378 994 126 1 075 926 753 981 1 910 2 143 1 807 1 412 1 231 finance costs net 389 288 297 289 257 247 297 343 303 252 159 146 associates 44 55 44 112 42 28 48 61 64 47 26 19 profit before tax 1 033 761 215 674 711 534 732 1 628 1 904 1 602 1 279 1 104 income tax 304 177 80 120 114 95 134 366 466 378 273 232 profit after tax 729 584 295 554 597 439 598 1 262 1 438 1 224 1 006 872 controversy edit cartel accusations edit europe edit in poland in 2007 crh was fined 530 000 by the polish competition and consumer protection commission for interfering with evidence that polish authorities were gathering for a price fixing investigation . 33 in 2009 grupa o ar w in which crh first invested in 1995 was fined 26 million for operating a price fixing cartel in poland . 34 the polish competition regulator stated that seven companies which accounted for almost 100 per cent of the market had fixed minimum prices for grey cement and agreed on a market share for each operator . crh has stated its belief that ozar w operated an independent commercial policy in poland and the fine has been appealed . 35 in ireland in 1994 irish cement limited a wholly owned subsidiary of crh was determined by the european commission to be part of price fixing and market sharing cartel across europe which it said had illegally and artificially inflated the price of cement throughout the continent . a fine of over 3.5 million was levied . 36 in ireland also in 1996 high court proceedings were initiated against crh its subsidiaries and two competitors in which the plaintiffs accused crh and the others of operating a cartel and employing an illegal and anti competitive eviction strategy in order to put them out of business . 37 in 2012 crh applied successfully to have the claim dismissed on the basis of the inordinate and inexcusable delay in bringing forward any evidence in the case . 38 that judgement was appealed to the supreme court . at the time of the appeal it emerged that the presiding judge in the proceedings had ownership of some shares in crh and was forced to stand down . 39 in 2011 a separate high court action was initiated against crh by another company who claimed crh operated a cartel and abused a position of dominance in order to evict it from the market . the case is on going . 40 the cement and concrete industry is currently under investigation by the irish competition authority . 41 united states edit in 2006 an antitrust lawsuit was filed in california against oldcastle precast crh subsidiary and three at & t affiliates . the defendants were alleged to have unreasonably restrained trade and conspired to monopolize telephone vaults for land line connections . plaintiffs challenged a contract requiring developers to purchase oldcastle precast product for properties served by at & t infrastructure . they also contended the arrangement led to oldcastle precast capturing northern california sales of precast electrical vaults which were often placed concurrently with telephone structures . in 2010 an american court of appeal ruled that the plaintiff s counsel had failed to provide enough evidence to show that the defendants oldcastle precast inc. and three at & t affiliates harmed competition in california and nevada telephone vault markets . 42 in october 2009 a cement and concrete price fixing class action lawsuit was filed in florida against oldcastle materials crh subsidiary and others . the claim alleged that the defendants eliminated competition in the market for cement and concrete by charging artificially high prices from at least the period 2000 to 2009 . the claim further alleged that the conspiracy was facilitated through in personal meetings telephone conversations and other communications . in 2008 the defendants announced uniform price increases for concrete and cement bringing their prices to the same level at the same time the lawsuit claimed . then in september a number of defendant companies cut the price of concrete in an effort to lure customers away from independently owned concrete firms . the lawsuit stated that the practices alleged in the cement and concrete industry were clearly illegal . 43 in 2012 the case was settled for undisclosed terms . 44 allegations of corrupt payments to politicians edit poland edit in 2005 a polish businessman marek dochnal alleged to a polish parliamentary inquiry that he had arranged a