France: Vicat’s revenue in the first nine months of 2022 came to Euro2.70bn, a 15% rise year-on-year compared to Euro2.35bn in the same period in 2021. Its revenues in France rose by 8% to Euro889m from Euro824m. Its revenue in the rest of Europe fell by 4.5% to Euro288m from Euro301m. In the Americas, Vicat’s revenues increased by 27% to Euro637m from Euro500m, while they rose even more dramatically across the Mediterranean rim, up by 57% from Euro166m to Euro260m. In Africa revenues came to Euro245m, broadly unchanged on the year. In its Asia region, including Kazakhstan and India, its revenues rose by 18% to Euro376m from Euro320m.

The group’s sales volumes of cement fell by 5% to 20.3Mt from 21.3Mt. However, price rises enabled it to increase its operational revenue by 18% to Euro1.69bn from Euro1.43bn. Similarly, concrete sales volumes fell by 4.8% to 7.48Mm3 but operational sales rose by 16% to Euro1.04bn.

Guy Sidos, the group's chair and chief executive officer said "Vicat's nine-month sales performance reflects the resilience of its markets despite a high basis of comparison in 2021. Against a backdrop of very high inflation, the group's sales posted a solid increase compared with the same period of 2021, supported by strong growth in selling prices across all its regions. In a global environment that provides little short-term visibility, especially regarding energy costs, we are executing our strategy to improve our industrial performance, make greater use of secondary fuels, reduce our carbon footprint and implement a pricing policy tailored to these new conditions."

Vicat announced that it expects its overall earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to be lower in 2022 as a whole than in 2021 but comparable to 2020.