Fourth quarter key figures show sales stable at €3,809 million; EBITDA up 7% to €856 million; current operating income up 12% to €603 million; net income group share increased to €100 million (versus a loss of € 3 million in 2011).
Year-to-date key figures reveal sales up 3.5% to €15.816 billion; EBITDA up 7% to €3,450 million; current operating income up 12% to €2,440 million; net income group share reached €432 million.
Excluding one-off items, net income group share increased 70% to €772 million and sales increased 3.5% year-to-date, driven by successful price actions across all product lines to respond to cost inflation and by growth in emerging markets.
The group says it delivered on its cost savings target, achieving €410 million in the year; innovation plan roll out is gaining pace and actions generated €80 million of EBITDA in 2012.
EBITDA and current operating income rose 7% and 12% respectively in the periods presented despite the continued slowdown in Europe. operations outside of Europe generated more than 75% of the group’s ebitda and rose 17% in the quarter and 19% year-to-date. group ebitda margin improved 130 basis points in both periods when excluding carbon credit sales.
The group has secured close to €900 million of divestments, of which €474 million were received in 2012, and will shortly exceed its objective of securing €1 billion.
Bruno Lafont, chairman and chief executive officer of Lafarge, said: “We have delivered on our objectives for 2012 and our results grew for the fifth consecutive quarter, driven by strong operational performance and growth in emerging markets which generated close to 60% of our sales.
“We are progressing fast and I am convinced that we will deliver most of our 2012-2015 plan to generate €1.75 billion additional EBITDA through cost reduction and innovation measures by the end of 2014, close to one year ahead of our initial objective. We target to deliver €650 million additional EBITDA from these measures in 2013.
“Whilst we adopt a cautious stance on the current market environment, our actions will drive net debt reduction to below €10 billion as soon as possible in 2013.
“Going forward we will continue to extract the full potential of our uniquely diversified portfolio of high quality assets, selectively investing in organic growth in our core markets. All our actions strive towards growth in sales, earnings, return on capital employed and cash flows and my priority is to maximise value creation for our shareholders.”
In its outlook the group says overall it sees cement demand moving higher and estimates market growth of between 1-4% in 2013 versus 2012. Emerging markets continue to be the main driver of demand and Lafarge benefits from its well-balanced geographic spread of high quality assets.
“We expect higher pricing for the year and that cost inflation will continue, although at a slightly lower rate than in 2012.”
The group maintains its target of reducing net debt to below €10 billion as soon as possible in 2013. Capital expenditures will be limited initially to €800 million in 2013 and additional divestments beyond the current target of €1 billion since the beginning of 2012 may lead to an increase of this expenditures level while maintaining its debt reduction objective.
