News: JHX Australia's James Hardie forecasts earnings boost, shares jump

Aug 9 (Reuters) - The world's biggest fibre cement maker, James Hardie Industries (JHX) , flagged higher earnings for fiscal 2020 on Friday citing an improved performance for its North American fibre cement segment, sending its shares sharply higher.

The company said it expected full-year adjusted net operating profit to be between $325 million and $365 million, compared with $300.5 million reported a year ago.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin - a measure of a company's profitability - for its North American fibre cement segment would be at the upper end of its 20% to 25% range for the year ended March 31, 2020.

Margins would be helped by controlling input costs, better pricing and modest growth in the U.S. housing market.

The Dublin-based company's Australia-listed shares leapt nearly 15% to A$21.820 on the outlook, its highest level since September last year. The broader market was flat. (xjo)

"Our North America Fiber Cement segment delivered very good volume growth in a down market while generating EBIT margin at the top end of our target range," Chief Executive Officer Jack Truong said in a statement.

The company, whose U.S. cement sales account for a majority of its earnings, said adjusted net operating profit rose to $90.2 million for the quarter ended 30 June, from $79.9 million a year earlier.

On a statutory basis however, net profit attributable fell to $86.5 million for the quarter, from $90.6 million a year ago.