How Trump's infrastructure plans are boosting European construction stocks

Seeing more M&A

There are few better examples of false dawns than the European construction industry, but there are now signs of life.

The sector is consolidating, funding remains cheap and some peripheral countries are seeing a reversal of fortunes. Housing starts sit 25% below their 20-year average across the Euro area, cement consumption is running under 300kg/capita vs a 20-year average nearer 400kg and construction output remains 10% below the long-run average.  Cement over-capacity is being addressed, with several big deals completing over the past 12-18 months. HeidelbergCement's acquisition of Italcementi by no means solves an endemic problem but, together with LafargeHolcim & CRH, the three titans of Europea...