Marazzi Group: positive first half

Sep 14, 2007

14/09/07 - A positive firsthalf for the largest worldwide producer of ceramic tiles, active also in the sanitaryware and raw materials sectors.
Sales profits for the Marazzi Group on June 30th equalled 508.5 million Euro, +3.7% compared to the same period in 2006.

Particularly positive was the rise in Russia (+35%), while sales for the business units in Italy and Spain have registered rises in profits of 7.0% and 7.8% respectively, with bigger market concentration on both the domestic markets and the main markets of Central and Southern Europe.
The upturn in turnover on a European level has compensated for the slowdown on the American market (84.6 million Euro, dropping 14.8% on the same period of 2006) where, despite the strong decrease in demand, the group has achieved a significant rise in the market share in the residential sector (+3.5%).
A downturn, caused by a long trade union dispute in two of the three plants, also for the French division which closed the half with a drop of 6.7% in turnover.

More than positive was the performance of the operating margins, Edibta at 91.9 million Euro (+0.7%) while Ebit reached 64.3 million Euro (+5.6%).

An interview with Mauro Vandini, managing director of Marazzi Group will be published on the Ceramic World Review and Tile Italia editions available at Cersaie.