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| HeidelbergCement Q3 profits up, beat forecast HeidelbergCement reaffirmed that it expects a sharp rise in 2005 operating profit after its quarterly earnings beat forecasts, sending its shares up. Net profit in the three months to the end of September jumped 60 percent to 274 million euros, driven by strong cement sales in its key North American markets. Third-quarter operating profit climbed to 453 million euros from 344 million euros as turnover rose 14 percent to 2.25 billion euros. Both net and operating profit beat the average forecast from five analysts polled by Reuters. The cement maker is cutting 1, 100 administrative jobs in Europe to help lower annual costs by 50 million euros. Shares in HeidelbergCement had risen 1.7 percent to 68.50 euros at 0906 GMT, outperforming a 0.3 percent gain in the mid-cap MDAX index . Analysts had expected HeidelbergCement to benefit from a pick-up in cement demand in North America and parts of Europe -- like Holcim and Cemex -- because of improved building activity as the global economy recovered. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Construction News :: home page |