The material properties of new sulphonated phenolic resin (SP) reinforced cement mortars have been investigated. SP was found to promote the dispersion of cement particles and to interact with Ca(OH)(2). As a result, the resulting mortars exhibit better workability, more compact structure and higher compressive strength than plain mortars. The mortar with 1 wt % SP present after 28 days curing exhibits a compressive strength of 66 MPa, which is about 18% higher than that of plain mortar.