LafargeHolcim 3Q16 net sales 3.1% lower

LafargeHolcim's 3Q16 net sales amounted to CHF7.03bn, 3.1 per cent lower on a like-for-like basis on 3Q15. For 9M16 net sales reached CHF20.3bn, down -1.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis on 9M15.

Eric Olsen, CEO of LafargeHolcim, said: "With these results, we are demonstrating that our focus on pricing, synergies and cash flow is delivering results. Our earnings momentum is accelerating and we are on track to achieve our commitments for 2016, resulting in a year of solid progress towards our 2018 objectives.

"These results demonstrate the strength of our balanced portfolio with solid contributions from both mature and emerging countries across our regions. As we anticipated, challenging conditions in Nigeria continued to impact our earnings, but we started to see the positive effects of higher prices and of our actions to diversify our fuel mix towards the end of the quarter.

"Beyond the benefits from the divestment programme, we continue to focus on reducing net debt and driving strong cash flow generation."

Mr Olsen added that he expects 2016 to be a year of progress towards the company's 2018 targets. "We expect demand in our markets to grow at between 1-3 per cent for the full year. Our pricing recovery actions, commercial excellence initiatives and a continuing focus on growth will demonstrate tangible results in 2016.

"Based on the trends we see, our full-year expectations remain unchanged, except for synergies where we now expect to deliver at least CHF550m of incremental synergies in 2016," said Olsen.