The construction materials supplier said the results were achieved against the backdrop of a flat construction market in Britain, where lower industry sales volumes were recorded for all major heavyside construction materials in the nine months to 30 September 2019.

Group sales volumes of aggregates increased by 4%, asphalt by 8% and cement by 6%, while ready-mixed concrete volumes declined by 5%. As a result, group revenues grew by 8% to approximately £800 million.

The integration of Lagan, which was acquired in April 2018, is now largely complete and Breedon said it remains confident of delivering the anticipated annual cost synergies. Roadway Civil Engineering & Surfacing Ltd, acquired on 1 October, is performing “as expected”.

Assuming no materially adverse weather conditions for the remainder of the year, the group’s Underlying EBIT for the full year is expected to be in line with current market expectations.

In a statement accompanying the update, the firm said: “Breedon continues to be a well-invested business, with capital expenditure maintained in line with depreciation, which is enabling us to continue to enhance our operational performance and improve our productivity.

“Our cash generation is allowing us not only to maintain this high level of investment, but also quickly to pay down our borrowings, and we expect year-end leverage to fall further to approximately 1.5 times underlying EBITDA on a pre-IFRS 16 basis.”

Breedon added: “Looking ahead, while the upcoming General Election and ongoing Brexit negotiations create near-term uncertainty, the longer-term outlook for our markets remains encouraging with forecasters expecting GB construction to grow modestly in 2020 whilst Ireland is expected to see further double digit growth.

“Furthermore, we have consistently proved that we can produce superior results irrespective of market conditions.  Our focus on driving organic improvement, together with a healthy acquisition pipeline, gives us confidence that we will make further progress in 2020.”

Breedon will announce its preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2019 on 11 March 2020.