Good start to the year for Lafarge Holcim

Continued sales growth in first quarter with Group on track to achieve full-year targets

LafargeHolcim have reported a good start to year with like-for-like net sales up 3.1% to CHF 5,830 million in the first quarter (Q1), driven by growth in cement volumes, though recurring EBITDA was down by 7.7% on a like-for-like basis, affected by the especially harsh winter in North America and Europe.

Jan Jenisch, group chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim, said: ‘Q1 was a good start to the year. The continued growth in the top line is encouraging and confirms the positive outlook for our businesses. Though the quarter was affected by several headwinds, we expect the strength of our portfolio and the benefits of our new strategy to become increasingly visible over the full year. That makes us confident we will deliver on our 2018 targets.’

Strategy 2022 – ‘Building for Growth’ – was launched in March this year, and the recent bolt-on acquisition in aggregates and ready-mixed-concrete in the UK is said to be delivering immediate value, while expansion plans in the growing markets of India and Argentina are being implemented. Further progress has also been made to simplify the organization with a performance-management system, fully aligned with the strategy, now in place.

‘We are executing our Strategy 2022 at full speed,’ said Mr Jenisch. ‘Our new organization is getting us closer to our markets and we are making good headway on simplifying our business, a critical factor in the future success of LafargeHolcim.’

Looking ahead, LafargeHolcim say they are on track to achieve their full-year 2018 targets of net sales growth of 3–5% and an over-proportional increase in recurring EBITDA of at least 5% on a like-for-like basis.