New James Hardie chief executive Aaron Erter has been forced to downgrade full-year profits by about 10 per cent after a sharp downturn in new home construction in its main market of North America, a “housing recession” in Europe, and a slowdown in Australia.
Mr Erter has only been in the job since September 2 and on Tuesday conceded that his company had been surprised by the speed of the drop-off in new home construction in the US, which was reducing demand for its wall cladding and plasterboard.
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Simon Evans writes on business specialising in retail, manufacturing, beverages, mining and M&A. He is based in Adelaide. Connect with Simon on Twitter. Email Simon at simon.evans@afr.com
