In an interview with Reuters, Keiji Tokuue also said the profit of its U.S. operations was about 10 percent below its forecast for the April-June quarter, hit by a weak housing market.
Taiheiyo, Japan’s largest cement maker, announced last month that it had failed to clinch a deal to buy a U.S.-based maker of ready mixed concrete. It did not name the company or say why the talks broke down.
"It’s not as if talks broke down because of a fight. If certain terms are right we would resume talks. We left things on friendly terms," Tokuue said, adding that it was also considering other acquisition targets.
Expanding in the U.S. is a key pillar of Taiheiyo’s growth strategy given little hope for growth in its mature home market of Japan. North America accounted for about one-third of its group operating profit in the business year that ended in March.
Tokuue said housing demand in the U.S. remained sluggish, partly due to problems with subprime mortgages -- those made to borrowers seen at higher risk of default.
He said industry-wide demand for cement in the U.S. could fall 2 to 3 percent this year.
"It seems like the correction in the housing market could last through the end of this year," Tokuue said. "Profit for the January-March quarter was a bit below our forecast, and the trend continued in April-June."
Taiheiyo does not give quarterly estimates, but it has predicted that its U.S. company will post a $275.9 million operating profit for calendar 2007, up 18 percent from 2006.
