La Tribune: strong growth in profit for Lafarge

Lafarge achieved a net operating profit of €345m for the first quarter of 2007, up 58 per cent on the corresponding period of last year. The net profit increased six-fold to €362m, owing to the sale of the roofing activities and the cement, concrete and ballast operations in central Anatolia, Turkey. These figures significantly surpassed the expectations of analysts.

Turnover for the first quarter was up six per cent at just under €3.7bn; on a like-for-like basis, the level of growth would have been 11 per cent. Lafarge expects this growth to continue in 2007.