The pretax profit declined by 27.7% to €309.5m, and the net attributable profit was exactly halved to €71.3% as the minorities’ charge rose by 7.4%, reflecting the strong profitability in Egypt, where there is a large minority. In fact, the minorities’ charge was more than twice the group’s net attributable profit.
Capital investment was 3.6% lower at €680.1m, while spending on acquisitions was substantially lower at €42.8m and consisted essentially of two ready-mixed concrete businesses, one in France and the other in Kuwait. Net debt at the end of last year declined by 9.7% to €2,419.9m, resulting in a gearing level of 51.6%, compared with 58.1% a year earlier.
Shipments of cement and clinker were down by 11.1% to 55.7Mt in the year, while the aggregates tonnage fell by 19.1% to 35.4Mt and the ready-mixed concrete deliveries by 18.6% to 11.2Mm³.
