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[December 2006]
Marazzi Group Results for Third Quarter 2006
The Board of Directors of Marazzi Group SpA have reviewed and approved the company’s financial statements for the third quarter ending on 30 September 2006. In the first nine months of 2006, the group reported improved results compared to the already excellent results achieved in 2005.
Revenues in the first nine months reached €727.8 million, growing 7.5% compared to the same period in 2005. All business units (BUs) achieved results in line with budget; particularly good results were recorded in Russia (+26.5%) and the US (+10.9%). In the US, growth was slowed through the reaching of production capacity limits, while this BU was not impacted so far by the slowdown in new constructions. Italy and Spain maintained positive growth above 5%. Sales of the BU France decreased slightly in the nine months 2006 (-2.2%) - substantially stable on the quarter (+0.2%) - due to the actions of product portfolio streamlining aimed at improving margins.
In the third quarter, sales amounted to €237.3 million (+4.5% compared to the third quarter of 2005). The excellent performance of the Russian BU (+31.9%), together with the European BUs, all recorded positive growth on the previous year. This was partially slowed due to the decrease in the US in the quarter, which was also impacted by the unfavourable exchange rate utilised for the consolidation. The result in Euro recorded a reduction of 4.0% against a growth of sales in USD.
EBITDA of €135.3 million increased by 7.5% compared to the first nine months of 2005. The margin percentage on sales was 18.6%, in line with the previous year. The improved sales mix and the increase in production efficiency completely absorbed the increases in energy purchases (+29.2%) and raw materials (+13.9%).
ENDS