Saint-Gobain - Earnings And Acquisitions

Saint-Gobain has announced relatively unchanged 1996 net profits of FFr4.3bn (US$776m), after a year of acquisitions and a consequent four-fold increase in net debt from FFr3.94bn in 1995 to FFr15.1bn. Earnings per share decreased from FFr50.40 to FFr50. Turnover rose almost 30% from FFr70.3bn to FFr91.35bn while operating margins fell from 11.1% to 10.3%.