James Hardie, the world’s largest fiber cement maker, on Monday raised its annual profit forecast for the fourth time this fiscal year, and guided to even higher earnings next year, driven by a boom in the housing sector in North America.
New home sales in the United States, which makes up 70 percent of the company’s revenue, rose in every month of the December quarter and are expected to be robust despite the prospect of higher mortgage rates, driving up demand for building materials.
