Lafarge, Saint-Gobain Jump Most in Six Weeks on SocGen Report

Local Link Up - Contentys Ltd Jan. 10 -- Lafarge SA, the world's biggest cement maker, and Cie. de Saint-Gobain, Europe's largest building materials' supplier, rose the most since Nov. 30 after Societe Generale's report on the construction industry. Lafarge rose as much as 6.8 percent in Paris trading, the biggest intraday gain since Nov. 30, and was up 6.6 percent at 27.93 euros at 1:32 p.m. Saint-Gobain rose as much as 6.1 percent and was up 5.8 percent at 30.85 euros at 1:34 p.m. "We maintain our Buy rating on Lafarge thanks to its low exposure to developed markets, its improving balance sheet, driven by self help, and its attractive valuation," Muriel Fellous, Mike Bridges and Victor Acitores, analysts at Societe Generale, wrote in a report published today. While Saint-Gobain's growth potential may be hurt by slower economic growth, the company is "our top pick in the Building Materials universe," the analysts said. "The group has a very solid balance sheet and has changed its cost structure, generating massive cost savings," amounting to 2.1 billion euros ($2.7 billion) between 2008 and 2010, they said. Local Link Up - Contentys Ltd Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 10/01/2012