Saint-Gobain 9-month Sales Up 3.9%

(RTTNews) - French building materials firm Saint-Gobain (CODGF.PK), Wednesday reported sales for the nine-month period of 29.83 billion euros, up 3.9 percent from 28.70 billion euros last year.

Sales for the third quarter was 9.97 billion euros, up from 9.76 billion euros last year.

Sluggish volumes were hit by construction markets in France, the company said. The US contracted slightly, while Germany stabilized and the UK and Scandinavia reported growth.

"The third quarter reflects a disappointing economic climate versus our expectations, with a contraction in France - which is not yet showing any signs of improvement - as well as moderate growth in other Western European countries. Plunging sales in the oil and gas industry put the brakes on the US, while emerging markets continued to deliver good organic growth despite the economic slowdown in certain countries including Brazil," said CEO Pierre-André de Chalendar.