By Sonia Amaral Rohter 
 

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA (SGO.FR) said Thursday that its 2017 net profit increased, due in part to higher volumes and positive trends in pricing.

The French construction materials company reported net profit for the year of 1.57 billion euros ($1.93 billion) compared with EUR1.31 billion in 2016. Sales increased 4.4% to EUR40.81 billion.

Operating income for the period was EUR3.03 billion, compared with EUR2.82 billion in 2016.

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected net profit of about EUR1.56 billion on sales of EUR40.66 billion.

Fourth-quarter sales were EUR10.24 billion, the company said.

Sales prices rose significantly, particularly in the second half of the year, Saint-Gobain said.

"All business sectors and regions contributed to this good set of results, especially France which confirmed its recovery," said Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, chief executive of Saint-Gobain.

In 2018, Saint-Gobain said it expects to benefit from a supportive economic environment and is targeting a further like-for-like increase in operating income.

The company proposed a 2017 dividend of EUR1.30 a share, compared with EUR1.26 a share in 2016.

 

Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at sonia.amaralrohter@dowjones.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 22, 2018 12:39 ET (17:39 GMT)

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