BRAZIL - Sales of Duratex - manufacturer of wood panels, flooring, and sanitary ceramics and metals headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil - reached BRL 1,102.6 million in the last quarter (4Q) of 2017, a 7.2% growth.

In the year sales totaled BRL 3,990.9 million, an improvement of 2.1% compared to 2016.

The adjusted and recurring EBITDA of 4Q-2017 was BRL 228.9 million, 5.4% above 4Q-2016. The EBITDA margin closed the quarter at 20.8%. For the year adjusted and recurring EBITDA reached BRL 760.0 million with a margin of 19.0%, and an 11.6% improvement compared to 2016.

Net income reached BRL 84.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, a 235.7% increase over the same period of 2016. For the year, profit reached BRL 185.0 million, an increase of 605.4% compared to 2016.

Sales of the wood division were stable in the 4Q-2017 reaching BRL 692 million, sales for the Duratex Colombia operation were up 10.6% in the 4Q-2017 to BRL 98 million (4Q-2016: BRL 88.7 million).

For the year sales of the wood division reached BRL 2,515.7 million, a slight decrease of 3% (2016: BRL 2,594.5 million), of which BRL 331.1 million came from the Duratex Colombia operations.