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Geberit sees income treble

Production at the Geberit plant at Jona in canton St Gallen Keystone

The Geberit Group - the European leader in sanitary technology - has reported significant earnings growth for the first six months, with net income tripling to SFr61.4 million ($36.5 million).

A communiqué said the company increased sales by 6.7 per cent in the first half to reach SFr647.4 million, with operating profit increasing by 16.4 per cent to SFr117.3 million.

It added that profit had tripled in the absence of non-recurring financing costs incurred during the same period last year.

Geberit said the board of directors expected continuing sales growth with a progressive rise in operating profit and an increase in net income by about 100 per cent for the year 2000 as a whole.

The company added that the course of operations in the first two quarters had experienced strong fluctuations. After a sharp rise in sales by 12.4 per cent in the first quarter, turnover slowed down markedly from April to June, with a moderate increase of 1.3 per cent.

While sales were positive in Britain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Southern Europe, Asia and in the United States, they were slightly down in Germany (-0.2 per cent) due to the unexpected weak economic development in the new federal states.

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