France: Lafarge has reported that its net profit fell by 28% year-on-year to Euro218m in the third quarter of 2014 from Euro304m in the same period in 2013. The France-based building materials company blamed the drop on the war in Iraq and a sluggish construction market in France.
Overall sales revenue fell slightly to Euro3.64bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation fell by 4% to Euro887m from Euro920m. Cement sales volumes fell slightly to 31Mt.
"In a quarter marked by more moderate growth, we continued to progress on implementing our actions to reduce debt, cut costs and promote innovation... We shall meet our 2014 Euro600m cost-cutting and innovation target and confirm our 2015 Euro550m objective," said Lafarge's CEO, Bruno Lafont.
The company noted that volume trends eased in the third quarter with a more challenging comparable in Europe, mostly in France, where the construction sector remains subdued and in Iraq, the ability to transport cement across the country was limited. Meanwhile, in most emerging markets and in the United States, growth continued and the company benefited from the start-up of its new plants in India and Russia.
Looking ahead, Lafarge confirmed its estimate of market growth of between 2% to 5% in 2014 versus 2013. The company added that it has decided to pause its stand-alone divestments pending completion of the planned merger with Holcim.
