France: Ciments Français has reported that its revenue has fallen by 2.5% to Euro3.73bn in 2012 from Euro3.82bn. It has attributed the decline to the impact of the economic crisis on construction material demand, particularly in industrialised countries.

In its press release with the results Ciments Français commented that its sales increased in most emerging countries, especially those in Asia. During the fourth quarter of 2012, the trend improved significantly in the cement and clinker sector with stable sales, following decreases over the first three quarters.

By volume the group sold 39.3Mt of cement and clinker in 2012, a decrease of 2.7%. By region sales volumes fell by 8.8% to 9.3Mt in 2012 in the group's Western Europe region. Sales also fell in the group's Emerging Europe, North Africa and Middle East region, by 4.5% to 14.9Mt. Volumes remained steady in North America at 4.2Mt and increased in Asia by 8.8% to 10.1Mt. Notably, the group preformed significantly better in the fourth quarter of 2012 for volumes sold of cement and clinker with all regions doing better compared to the same quarter of 2011.

By revenue the group's cement and clinker business fell by 1% to Euro2.51bn in 2012 from Euro2.54bn in 2011. The cement and clinker business comprised 67% of the group's total revenue in 2012. Geographically, the group's Western Europe region comprised 43% of the group's revenue, the single largest area in terms of location.