we have strengthened our position in asia half year report holcim 2002

We have strengthened our position in Asia.

Half-Year Report 2002

Operating targets achieved – strong Swiss franc hurts results

Sales volumes increased again in our three core segments cement, aggregates and re

ady-mix concrete. Practi￾cally all Group companies achieved their operating targets as measured in local curre

ncy, partly because the

selective restructurings of recent years have started to bear fruit. Consolidated net sa

les of CHF 6,441 million

(first half 2001: 6,582) fell just short of the strong results in the first six months of 20

01 owing to currency

movements. Main factors were the weakness of the US dollar as well as the euro. In a

ddition, a number

of local currencies in Latin America, the South African rand and the Egyptian pound a

ll fell substantially.

Adjusting for currency movements, consolidated sales exceeded the results in the cor

responding year-back

period, and also consolidated operating profit of CHF 935 million (first half 2001: 997)

compared favorably

with the same period in the previous year. EBITDA at CHF 1,706 million (first half 200

1: 1,789) held up well.