RMC shelves German sale plan

CEMENT giant RMC today ended months of speculation by confirming it is not selling its German ready-mixed concrete business after it unveiled flat profits in the first half of the year.

The company said failure to receive any satisfactory offers for Readymix had forced it to take the business off the market. The sale of Readymix was said to have been worth up to e1bn (£630m) and was part of RMC's restructuring plan.

Pre-tax profits before exceptionals at the group were £80.6m in the six months to 30 June against £80.2m over the same period last year. The interim dividend is unchanged at 9.4p. Second-half profits are also expected to be flat.

Stuart Walker, RMC group chief executive, said: 'Because most of our main markets are softening, we are a bit cautious about the outlook. We believe we can generate better returns for shareholders but the next six months will be quite tough.'

Walker said any fine imposed as a result of an industry-wide cartel investigation in Germany would be 'absolutely minimal'.