Ciment Francais lifts 9m net profit

French cement maker Ciments Francais  posted an 8.7 per cent rise in nine-month net profit on Friday partly due to a reduction in financial costs and an increase in the contribution from equity-accounted companies. Ciments Francais, controlled by Italy’s Italcementi, said January-September net profit totalled Euro 210.7m compared with Euro193.9m a year ago.

It said that given the good performance of the first nine months of the year, profits for the full year should improve, excluding extraordinary items, despite higher fuel costs in the second half.

Business was sustained in the domestic markets for all countries, although a slow-down was noted for the 3rd quarter, especially in Greece after the completion of the works associated with the Olympic Games.

Overall, compared with 2003, growth in volumes was accompanied by a continued favourable trend in sales prices, but experiencing some recent pressure due to the fall in prices in Thailand and Belgium.