Lafarge has mastered its debt in 2011, new sales in 2012

Lafarge announced Friday a 14% reduction in its net debt in 2011, thanks to its output activity plaster, and its intention to continue its asset sales in 2012 in the As part of its debt reduction plan.

The title of the world's leading cement and displays the largest increase in the CAC 40 and affects its highest level in seven months, the market welcoming the results better than expected progress in terms deleveraging as investors feared that the group is forced to undertake a capital increase.

Around 10:25, the title, which lost more than 42% in 2011, accounts 6.13% to 33.780 euros, with nearly two million shares, representing already 140% of average daily volume the past three months. The European sector index ahead of his side of 1.7%.

Since the beginning of the year, took the title over 25%, after falling about 42% throughout 2011.

"The internal levers (limitation of dividend, cost reduction) and exogenous (relative relaxation of the funding offer and gradual reversal of trend in the U.S.) reduce the risk of increased capital, "said CM-CIC Securities, which also notes that the results fell less than expected.

Lafarge, which announced earlier this month 460 job cuts as part of an operational reorganization by business to simplify its structure, reduced last year its net debt to 11.97 billion euros, a decrease of approximately two billion over the year as expected. 

"The group's net debt will continue to decline in 2012 through the implementation of actions to maximize our operational cash flow," said Bruno Lafont, CEO of Lafarge, said in a statement ;.

When asked during a teleconference on a target to reduce debt, Bruno Lafont said simply: What can be said is that the debt will be significantly reduced in 2012. "

1 UP TO 4% OF THE MARKET IN 2012

……. . The group's debt, inherited largely from the acquisition of Orascom in 2008, earned him to be downgraded in the "junk" by rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's last year. 

As part of its debt, the group seeks one billion euros in new divestitures in 2012, after 2.2 billion in 2011. It also has limited this year to 800 million euros investment, against 1.2 billion in 2011, achieving in 2012 the bulk – 400 million – 500 million euros of e ; economies already announced and halving the dividend to 0.50 euro per share.

Lafarge also announced in 2011 the closure of its plant Frangey (Yonne), the smallest cement group in France which he pledged to reclassify 75 employees, and the closure of a cement plant in Kansas (USA).

In 2011, the group's turnover increased by 3% to 15.28 billion euros, while net income, group share, fell 28% to 593 million euros, hit by an exceptional charge for impairment of 285 million euros related to the situation in Greece. 

Lafarge plans in 2012 a growth of 1 to 4% of the markets where it operates, especially now the cement (65% of sales) and concrete and aggregates ( 34%).

The output in Europe and Asia-Pacific – including Australia – activity has also strengthened plaster mathematically the group's presence in emerging markets, where growth should still be higher than in mature markets.

The U.S. market should indeed be stable this year and that of Western Europe down 5 to 8%, Spain and Greece in mind.

New economies now account for 57% of turnover, against 52% in 2010 and 32% in 2005.

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