6 - Vicat

EXAMINATION OF THE FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS9 9.2. COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR 2009 AND 2008The breakdown of operational sales for 2009 by country and by business is as follows :OtherConcrete & Products & Inter-sector ConsolidatedCountryCement Aggregates Services eliminations salesFrance 394.2 407.3 218.8 (176.3) 843.9United States 87.5 127.3 (28.2) 186.6Turkey 115.4 74.9 2.6 (36.7) 156.2Africa, Middle East 398.1 13.7 (0.4) 411.4Europe (except France) 133.9 101.3 92.3 (29.7) 297.9Sector operational sales (before inter-sector eliminations) 1,129.1 724.5 313.6 (271.2) 1,896.0Inter-sectors eliminations (179.2) (29.0) (63.0) 271.2Consolidated sales 949.9 695.5 250.6 - 1,896.09.2.2. Change in operating profitIn a strongly deteriorating macro-economic contextduring 2009, the Group delivered a solid performance,characterized by a clear capacity for resilienceof the operational profitability. EBITDA hasdecreased by 10.5 % (11.6 % at constant scope andexchange rates) mainly due to the significant fall inbusiness throughout the year and strong competitivepressure in Turkey and the United States.With energy costs still high throughout the year resultingfrom persistence of hedging policies, theseelements could not be fully compensated by theproactive economic measures taken under the“Performance +” plan and by the growth in businessin Egypt and Senegal.(in millions of euros) 2009 2008Evolution(%)Net sales 1,896.0 2,057.0 (7.8)EBITDA 473.0 528.3 (10.5)EBIT 321.9 392.2 (17.9)Operating profit (1) 304.2 381.9 (20.4)Beyond the operational performance of the variousbusinesses which is detailed below, the operating resultin 2009 incorporates in particular a net chargeof € 16.6 million in connection with the incident occurredin the Maurienne valley (€ 11.2 million for theprevious period).Overall, all non-recurrent elements included in theoperating results, which represented a net charge of€ 1.7 million for 2008, represent a net charge of € 18.5million euros in 2009.9.2.2.1. Change in the operating profit by businessThe following paragraphs show the breakdown ofoperating results by business, as well as an analysisof their development between 2008 and 2009.9.2.2.1.1. Change in operating profit in the Cementbusiness(in millions of euros) 2009 2008Evolution(%)Operating sales 1,129 1,142 (1.2)Inter-sectorseliminations (179) (213) (16.1)Contribution toconsolidated sales 950 929 2.3EBITDA 364 388 (6.1)EBITDA/operatingsales (%) 32.2 % 33.9 % -1.7 ptsOperating income 267 303 (12.1)The operational profitability of the Cement businesshas fallen for both the operating income and EBITDA.At constant scope and exchange rates, EBITDA ofthe Cement business has fallen by 7.1 % to € 364 millionthat reflect a 1.7 point decrease in the EBITDAmargin to 32.2 % of operating sales. This change is(1)Operating profit is calculated by adding up EBIT and other non operating income (expenses) and non-operating depreciation,amortization and provisions.2009 registration document - VICAT 77