Building material group CRH's confirmation last week that the company had completed nearly €170m worth of acquisitions in the last two months of 2009, including the previously rumoured bolt-on addition of Texas-based paving firm Wheeler Companies, marked a return to something like business as usual for the international group.

During a year spent bolstering its balance sheet by reducing debt and raising fresh capital, CRH was relatively restrained in terms of takeovers and investments. While the €450m CRH spent last year on strategic additions and stakebuilding would represent a significant outlay for any Irish plc, especially in a recession, it was less than a third of the €1.4bn company acquisition spend in 2008 and not even a fifth of 2007's record level of activity.

The company's return to the strategic deal-making for which it is known, even at a smaller scale, suggests CRH is positioning for the long-awaited recovery in key markets, such as China and, especially, the US.

The Wheeler purchase, which will boost CRH's presence in America's second-most populous state, was complemented by six other acquisitions of US materials firms, mainly in the growing south and west of the country, for a total of €146m. The play here, despite the uncertainty around any global economic recovery, is to be ready and able when the money from Barack Obama's $11bn 2010 stimulus spending starts coming through in the form of road-paving – an area where CRH enjoys an 11% market share in the world's biggest economy.

And CRH is far from finished. According to chief executive Myles Lee, the firm has the "ability to spend" €1.5bn over the next 12-18 months on "the right opportunities". The main targets, Lee told analysts in a conference call last week, will be on the "heavy side" of the business – aggregates, asphalts and concrete – as well as some of the companies CRH first approached in 2008.

"Certainly we have an increased appetite for opportunities, which has been in evidence by what we delivered in the second half of the year. But as always in these things, timing comes into it and some of those deals got skipped over the year-end," he said.

Lee's confidence comes from CRH's strong balance sheet, considered one of the best in the sector. Last year the company decreased its net debt by €2bn to under €4bn by generating cash flow of €1bn and raising €1.24bn in capital in a March rights issue. It also slashed a further €200m in costs, bringing total savings to 9% of the cost base, which analysts Davy said would contribute to a jump in profits this year. At the end of 2009 CRH was sitting on €1.4bn in cash and undrawn committed loan facilities of €1.6bn. Significantly, the company has only €200m in debt maturing in 2010, leaving it free to devote resources and attention to managing and spending its war chest.

The US acquisitions should contribute immediately to profits, especially as they were bought at the very keen price of about four times earnings, as compared to a CRH average of 6.5 times earnings, and together account for $200m (€140m) in annual sales and margins of about 25%.

"We're seeing a large incremental impact from [the acquisitions] which have roughly $200m in sales and roughly $50m of EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation], so a very significant element of that will be incremental in 2010," said CRH finance director Glenn Culpepper.

Yet the steady sell-off in CRH shares last week – the stock fell from €19.50 at Monday's open to below €18 – suggests investors remain unconvinced. Notwithstanding good capital management and the prospects for earning out of the new acquisitions – both recent and in the pipeline – profit figures are not encouraging, with pre-tax profits for 2009 coming in 55% below the 2008 figure.

The rate of decline in earnings eased somewhat in the second half of last year, but the group said market conditions remain tough with private sector spend continuing to have a "significant negative" impact on volumes in all divisions. CRH also pointed out that trading conditions continue to remain difficult and the timing of any sustained pick-up in developed-world construction remains unclear, while its main markets in Europe and the US are likely to remain subdued.

But there could be some comfort in rising highway spending in the US, which has been showing a sustained increase in comparison to other construction areas and where CRH is building on its already significant presence. Because of the company's aggressive cost-cutting, it stands to benefit disproportionately should the US rebound more quickly than expected, according to analysts.

Even without a recovery, the US government has pledged a total of $27.5bn in roads, highways and bridges, $5bn of which came through in 2009 with the rest still to arrive. This kind of public infrastructure spending will help CRH one way or another given its big American exposure. But sustained earnings depend on a broader economic renaissance there.

In this way CRH is emblematic of the Irish economy in general and possibly is a sign of what successful Irish companies must do to prosper in the global economy: cut costs dramatically and position for good conditions in other, more prosperous, parts of the world by seeking strategic fits at smart prices.