The group says that the increase in consolidated net sales was due to higher sales mainly from our operations in Northern Europe, South/Central America and the Caribbean, and the United States, while the infrastructure and residential sectors were the main drivers of demand in most of its markets.
Free cash flow after maintenance capital expenditures for the quarter was $263million (€186million), compared with $250million (€176.7million)in the same quarter of 2010.
Operating income in the third quarter increased by 7%, to $305million (€215.6million), from the comparable period in 2010.
Fernando A. González, executive vice president of finance and administration, said: “This is the fourth consecutive quarter of top-line growth in our results. We also saw stable consolidated pricing on a quarter-on-quarter basis in local-currency terms. We are particularly pleased with the quarterly performance of our operations in the Northern Europe and the South, Central American and Caribbean regions.
“We have raised $80million [€56.5million] in asset sales during the first nine months of this year and expect to raise an additional $100-$200million [€141million] during the fourth quarter. We estimate total proceeds from asset sales will reach $1billion [€710million] by the end of 2012.
“We also continue to be confident in our ability to meet all of our financial obligations. We have also prepaid all of maturities under our Financial Agreement until December 2013 and proactively bolstered our liquidity needs.”
During the third quarter of 2011, the controlling interest net loss was primarily driven by material adverse changes in the currency and equity markets. Of the $732 million (€517.5million) year-over-year difference in controlling interest net loss, about 70% is non-cash.
