Saint-Gobain said it had shares representing 77% of the capital of Meyer International Plc, under its bid for the British group. The French firm announced its £1.04bn bid in early February and said in a statement that it had received EC approval for the planned merger. Furthermore, Saint-Gobain said it planned to increase its 1999 net dividend 12.5% to Euros 3.60 and confirmed forecasts for 15% earnings per share growth in 2000 before capital gains. The company also confirmed 1999 net profits of Euros 1.23bn (1.1bn) and operating profits of Euros 2.31bn - figures that were largely in line with provisional results released in January. The results included capital gains from the partial unwinding of the firm's cross-shareholding with French conglomerate Vivendi. Excluding these gains, net profits rose to Euros 883m (790m).
