Saint-Gobain Sees More Favorable Trend in 2nd Half

By Eric Chalmet and Inti Landauro

PARIS--French construction material maker Saint-Gobain SA (SGO.FR) Wednesday said it will meet its target set for the year as it expects a more favorable environment for its businesses in the second half of the year.

The company said its net profit fell 17% to 558 million euros ($614 million) in the first half from overall sales worth EUR19.86 billion. The company's operating profit rose 7.8% to EUR1.28 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected a median EUR596 million net profit and sales worth EUR20.8 billion.

In February, the company had said it expected a higher operating profit in 2015 than in 2014 if the effects of currency swings and asset acquisitions and sales were excluded.

Saint-Gobain expects the second half of the year to see the market in France gradually stabilizing, while operations in emerging markets and North America are likely to improve too, the company said.

-Write to Inti Landauro at [e-mail]

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