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[February 2003]
Reorganisation/Results Report from Imerys
As of 1 January 2003, Imerys reorganised its activities into four business groups of comparable size:• Specialty Minerals (29% of the group's consolidated sales in 2002)
• Pigments for Paper (28%)
• Building Materials (21%)
• Refractories & Abrasives (22%)The comments on sectoral performance for the full year 2002 in accounts figures just released take these structural adjustments into account.
Imerys says that 2002 was marked by an economic environment that remained difficult and continued to weigh on the group's sales volumes. Total consolidated sales were 1.2% lower than in 2001. At comparable Group structure and exchange rates, they were stable for the full year, with a 3.5% decrease in the first half, followed by a 3.5% increase in the second half (compared with a particularly low 2001). The softness in volumes was offset by an improvement in product mix.
Specialty Minerals business group combines the Performance Minerals activities of the former Pigments & Additives business group with the former Ceramics & Specialties business group. At comparable group structure and exchange rates, consolidated sales increased by 1.3%, with a decrease of 2.8% in the first half followed by an increase of 5.4% in the second half. Demand remained particularly poor in the European tableware and floor tile markets. In performance minerals, markets were stable but at a low level overall in Europe and the USA, while business remained very difficult in Latin America.
The increase in the Building Materials business group sales was partly due to the small external growth operations carried out in 2001 and 2002 (up 15.3 million euro); continued development of the specialised distribution network Larivière; and acquisition in early August 2002 of Tecasa, a Catalonian producer of clay bricks for partitions. At comparable group structure, consolidated sales were virtually stable - down 0.5% overall with a 2.3% drop in the first half and a 1.2% increase in the second half - as development of the brick business through new products, together with firm product mix and sales prices, virtually offset the impact on the French roofing renovation market of the disappearance of the December 1999 storms' effects.
At comparable group structure and exchange rates, consolidated sales for the Refractories & Abrasives business group improved 3.7% in the second half of the year, following a 9.1% fall in the first half. Over the whole year, sales decreased by 2.7%, reflecting weak end markets in refractories (steel and electronics). In minerals for abrasives, markets were stable overall and the development of the business group's industrial and commercial positions continued with the acquisition from Alcoa of a fused alumina plant in Brazil on 1 October 2002.
Overall, Imerys stated that in 2002, in a poor economic environment with no tangible signs of an upturn, it performed well, notably as a result of the reduction of production costs in all businesses, particularly Pigments for Paper, the increase in the added value of its product portfolio and a substantial decrease in financial expenses.
The Group confirmed the forecast increase of approximately 15% in its net current income (before non-recurring items and goodwill amortisation) compared with 2001. Definitive detailed results for 2002 will be published on 11 March 2003 before the opening of Paris Euronext.
ENDS