 |
 |
||||||
[May 2005]
Imerys First Quarter Results
All main items in the Imerys Group income statement improved in the first quarter of 2005. Consolidated sales grew substantially, by 9.6%. Adjusted for the significant negative impact of exchange rates and for changes in group structure - mainly the acquisition of Lafarge Refractaires - sales grew by 6%. This performance was achieved in a market environment that, while remaining healthy overall, was more contrasted than in 2004. Business was particularly firm in Refractories & Abrasives and Pigments for Paper.
Profits from current operations improved again, this time by 5.3%, particularly as a result of the substantial efforts made to reflect the sharp inflation in some external costs (freight, energy, chemicals) over the period in the price/mix component.
Combined with stable financial expenses and a slight decrease in the tax rate, this improvement led to 9.2% growth in net income from current operations in Q1 2005.
In Refractories & Abrasives, all markets enjoyed very good conditions in both Europe and the USA when compared with Q1 2004, when the upturn in activity had not then occurred. Sales totalled 200.3 million which represented a 37.6% increase on Q1 2004 despite exchange rates impact of minus 2.3%. Changes in structure had a substantial effect (+26.7%) reflecting the acquisition of Lafarge Refractaires, consolidated as from 1 January 2005 and the progressive discontinuance of American Minerals' trading activity. At comparable structure and exchange rates, growth was 13.2% with significant improvement in sales volume and the price/mix component.
ENDS