PORTUGAL – Sales for Sonae Industria were down 2.6% in the 1Q-2015 reaching EUR 258 million compared to EUR 265 million in the 1Q-2014.

Despite lower sales in the period, profitability indicators had a noticeable improvement compared to the same period 2014. EBITDA was up 31.6% to EUR 25 million in the period (1Q-2014: EUR 19 million), EBITDA margin was 9.7% in the 1Q-2015 an improvement of 2.5 p.p. as compared to 1Q-2014 (7.2%). The company was also able to lower it’s loss to EUR 3 million from EUR 15 million in the 1Q-2014, evidencing a very significant improvement of 12 million Euros over the same quarter of last year.

“The results achieved during this first quarter of 2015 constitute strong evidence that the defined strategic path is translating into improved profitability for the company. For the remainder of the year, we expect to continue to show positive delivery on the execution of our strategic plan, on the implementation of the ‘Improve our Work’ roadmap, on the launch of new decorative products and on the optimization of our core plants”, stated Rui Correia, CEO of Sonae Industria.