The sector giant’s results were said to be impacted by the €41 billion merger and restructuring costs, adverse foreign exchange, an economic slowdown in China and Brazil as well as softness in France and in Switzerland.
Commenting on the first set of results since the closing of the merger, Eric Olsen, CEO, said: "The first nine months of this year and in particular the third quarter, have been impacted by the difficult economic context in some of our large markets, and considerable negative foreign exchange fluctuations. In addition, the closing of the merger triggered both one-off costs and organizational changes, the benefits of which will start coming through next year. "
At the same time, the new company saw solid market trends that, combined with its commercial efforts, led to good performance in several co1untries such as Argentina, Mexico, Philippines, the UK and the US.
As part of its 2016 - 2018 strategic plan, the company has proposed dividend per share of 1.50 Swiss francs (€1.38) for 2015, and plans to progressively grow dividend and targets a payout ratio of 50% over the cycle. The guidance given in July was for a dividend of 1.30 francs (€1.20).
Looking ahead, the group estimates that cement volumes will be higher for 2015 in all regions except Europe.
For the 9-month period, net sales declined 6.5% to 22.042 billion francs (€20.353 billion) from 23.562 billion francs (€21.757 billion). The results are on a pro-forma basis.
The decrease was 0.6% at constant exchange rates, as better performance in North America, Latin America and Middle East Africa did not fully compensate for the lower sales in Europe, China and India.
Sales of cement slid 1.3% while that of aggregates were 1.6% lower. Sales of ready-mixed concrete dropped 3% from last year.
Net sales totalled 7.825 billion francs (€7.225 billion) in the third quarter, compared to 8.57 billion francs (€7.913 billion) last year. Operating EBITDA dropped 28.6% to 1.311 billion francs (€1.21 billion).
