Dyckerhoff Group, a Buzzi Unicem subsidiary, reported a decline in sales for the first three months to the end of March 2013 due to unfavourable weather conditions.

In an advanced statement, the group said that total sales were down by 11 per cent. Sales were down in all regions in which the group operates except for Russia where volumes increased, and the USA where they remained almost stable.

Group EBITDA fell by a total of EUR9m, of which EUR2m was due to a one-time negative effect. The remaining EUR7m reduction mainly resulted from poor weather conditions, the company said in the statement.  Depreciation and amortization declined by EUR2m, therefore, EBIT decreased by EUR7m. Net investment income and net interest improved. Pretax profit fell by EUR 1m while the result after income taxes was EUR -35m.

For fiscal year 2013, Dyckerhoff expects group sales and EBITDA to remain at a similar level to 2012 based on the assumption that sales will catch up on the weather-related volume decreases of the first quarter . Results before and after taxes are expected to show positive developments as a result of the non-recurrence of the extraordinary write-downs of 2012.