Difficult year impacts on Hanson
Hanson has recorded a 1% increase in pre-tax profits after facing difficult trading conditions over the last year.
The building materials group says higher fuel costs, unseasonal weather and some softer markets has impacted on its performance.
Pre-tax profits before one-off items came in at £318.2m, just 1.2% higher than the figure for 1999.
Hanson says it has successfully completed the acquisition of Australian group Pioneer during the year and will concentrate on generating value from its existing assets during the coming year.
Andrew Dougal, chief executive, said: "2000 was a good year for Hanson in spite of difficult trading conditions."
Hanson, which rejoined the FTSE-100 Index of leading blue-chip stocks in December, says higher fuel charges cost it more than £40m last year.
Mr Dougal says the rise in fuel charges will now be recovered through higher prices, likely to be up an average 10% in the UK.
Weather was a key issue in 2000, Mr Dougal added, with unseasonal conditions in the UK during the spring and autumn and the cold winter in the US.
Mr Dougal says the past year has been one of transformation following the company's £1.54bn swoop for Pioneer and a series of other smaller deals. He says Hanson will now look to generate value from its assets, although he refused to rule out further acquisitions.
"We have been, and expect to continue to play a leading role in the consolidation of the sector," he said.
