By Nathan Allen

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA (SGO.FR) backed its guidance Thursday after reporting a sharp drop in first-half net profit due to a large gain booked last year.

The French construction-materials company said profit fell to 689 million euros ($767.7 million) from EUR1.22 billion a year earlier. Saint-Gobain booked a EUR781 million gain on the sale of its stake in Sika AG (SIKA.EB) last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which strips out the effect of the sale, rose to EUR2.42 billion from EUR2.07 billion, the company said.

Meanwhile, sales climbed to EUR21.68 billion from EUR20.79 billion.

Chief Executive Pierre-Andre de Chalendar said the positive results were driven by upbeat trends in its main markets, better sales prices in relation to costs and advances in the group's portfolio-optimization plan.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2019 12:38 ET (16:38 GMT)

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