Saint-Gobain's chairman, Jean-Louis Beffa, said he was confident of hitting at least a 15% increase in earnings per share for 1999, helped by rising prices and a healthy world economy. "In the first half, we saw on the whole a slight increase in prices - 0.7% with a slight drop in Europea and a slightly bigger increase in America for our products," he said. "I see a trend just as favourable in the second half," he added. The positive price trend would be supported by economic growth in Europe and the US, he said. "Europe is improving, Asia has definately touched bottom, the US is holding up well, so we are clearly in a good position in the second quarter and this situation can only be good for prices." Mr Beffa said he was confident the group would boost 199 earnings per share by at least 15%, excluding exceptional items.
