James Hardie Industries (JHX) on Monday raised its first-quarter operating profit-margin forecast for its North American business.
The company reported improved activity in the US housing market over the past seven weeks despite the coronavirus pandemic. JHX lifted cash guidance to $640 million from $600 million.
A cost-cutting drive also helped to improve EBIT margins to 27-29% compared to earlier estimates of 22% to 27%.
"The better than expected underlying housing market during our Q1 FY21 ... resulted in volume growth in the second half of the first quarter," Chief Executive Jack Truong said in a statement.
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