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[June 2005]
Imerys First Quarter Update
Imerys said that in the first quarter of 2005 it had to address a more
difficult environment; markets were generally more volatile, exchange rate
trends were unfavourable and some external costs rose sharply.
Nevertheless, the group continued to improve its performance.Substantial growth of 9.6% was posted in consolidated sales. Adjusted to
allow for the continued negative impact of exchange rates (minus 1.7%) and
the effects of changes in group structure (plus 5.3%, mainly due to the
acquisition of Lafarge Refractaires), sales gained by 6%.This organic growth in sales reflected an improved price/mix component (plus
3.8%) in all four business groups and 2.2% higher sales volumes, mainly
driven by brisk business in Refractories & Abrasives and Pigments for Paper.At 99.1 million for Q1 2005, profit from current operations increased by
5.3% compared with Q1 2004. Adjusted to allow for the effects of changes in
group structure (plus 2.7 million) and exchange rates (minus 2.9 million),
growth in profit from current operations was higher than the reported
increase. This reflected the improvements in sales volumes and the
price/mix component that enabled Imerys to absorb the sharp inflation in
some external costs (energy, freight and chemicals) throughout the quarter.Net income from recurring operations for the quarter increased by 9.2% to
57.2 million. This trend was due to growth in profit from current
operations, combined with stable financial expenses and a slight decrease in
the tax rate. Net income, which no longer includes goodwill amortisation
under IFRS standards, increased by 17.2% to stand at 59 million.Imerys adopted IFRS accounting standards from 1 January 2005.
ENDS