Ciments Français sees quarterly rise

Rising sales in the second quarter failed to offset declines recorded by Ciments Francais in the first three months of the year, leading to an overall drop in sales and profits for the first half of 2010, compared to 2009.

Sales for the second quarter reached €1.2billion, up 4.8% from 2009 levels, while EBITDA rose to €296million, up 7.9% from the same period last year. Nonetheless, this was not enough to compensate for the 26.3% fall in sales recorded in the first three months of 2010. For the first half, sales amounted to €2.13billion, down 1.9% on 2009.

Ciments Français said that increasing revenues in emerging countries made a significant contribution to offsetting the declines in North America and Western Europe.

The company has said that it expects the improvement in volumes seen in the second quarter to continue into the second half of the year.