Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
The merchant division of Saint Gobain’s business has seen the best growth in the past nine months, outperforming all other sectors within the group’s portfolio.
The group saw consolidated sales of €32,630m for the first nine months of 2007 compared with €30,925m for the same period last year – an increase of 5.5%.
However, by far the strongest performer was building distribution with sales of €14,445m compared with €12,8863m in 2006 a rise of 12.1%.
However, most of this growth came from Continental Europe, with the UK reporting “more modest growth”.
The report said: “Overall demand held firm in all of the group’s construction-related businesses. Vigorous markets in Western Europe, bolstered by the impact of regulations promoting energy efficiency in the building industry, more than offset the low level of construction activity in the US.
