Heidelberg Materials sees defence, infrastructure driving construction in 202...

Construction Growth Drivers

By John Revill

Defence Spending Impact

ZURICH, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Heidelberg Materials expects a slightly better market for building materials this year, its Chief Executive Dominik von Achten said on Wednesday, with growth driven mainly by increased infrastructure and defence spending.

Housing Market Challenges

The European Union plans to boost defence spending to 800 billion euros ($938.80 billion) in the coming years. And Germany - the home market for Heidelberg, the world's largest cement maker - has created a 500‑billion‑euro fund to modernise its infrastructure.

Acquisition Strategy

"That's not a small number," von Achten told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, referring to the defence spending pledge.

"Typically, defence-related investments also carry some concrete ... There are pressing needs in infrastructure, defence and energy," he said.

Projects linked to the energy transition will also drive growth, von Achten said.

"Overall we expect slight volume growth this year," he said.

HOUSING MARKET 'NOT REALLY MOVING', M&A DEALS ON THE TABLE

While he declined to give details of how the company performed in 2025 ahead of its earnings disclosure on February 25, von Achten said its current outlook for a result from current operations of 3.3 billion to 3.5 billion euros was "fine".

"We are comfortable with that guidance," he said.

However, he cautioned that the market for building materials for housing could remain subdued.

"Housing for now is not really moving," he said, citing lower migration and fewer renovations carried out during the pandemic as possible factors.

Heidelberg, meanwhile, plans to push ahead with acquisitions, with a full pipeline of possible deals.

The company has a war chest of around 10 billion euros to spend on acquisitions until 2030, von Achten said, and would consider deals of all sizes, including those over 1 billion euros.

Acquisitions would only be done if they fit into the company's strict financial framework, he added. 

"The U.S. is key focus for M&A, but it's not the only focus. We are doing deals in other parts of the world as well ... What we don't do is elephant deals of more than 10 billion euros across 20 different countries. That certainly is off the table."

($1 = 0.8522 euros)

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Joe Bavier)