James Hardie boss says house price gains will drive renovation rebound

Earnings before interest and tax for the Asia-Pacific business, which also includes New Zealand and the Philippines, were up 28 per cent to $137.4 million for the six months ended September 30. The company said EBIT for the three months were up 21 per cent to $67.9 million in the region.

Mr Erter said James Hardie took a big-picture approach to putting through price rises stemming from inflation and carefully examined the market dynamics. “We’re not a commodity,” he said.

James Hardie had spent years in developing new products which customers wanted. “It costs money, it costs resources,” he said. Decisions about future pricing would be made using those broad-brush factors.

He said while weaker home loan affordability and interest rate rises had caused an extra layer of uncertainty in the market, James Hardie was still capturing market share because it had the right contemporary products which customers and builders wanted.