Saint-Gobain has released its first-quarter results for 2025, demonstrating a resilient performance in a dynamic global environment.
The company reported a 3.2% increase in sales, reaching €11.7 billion, a testament to the effectiveness of its strategic approach.
While like-for-like sales saw a slight dip of 0.3%, this figure masks regional variations, with positive growth recorded in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Northern Europe. Volume trends show signs of stabilization, decreasing by 1.1% at comparable working days compared to a 2.6% decline in Q1 2024. This indicates a gradual improvement in market conditions. Price increases of 0.8% contributed to the overall sales growth, reflecting disciplined execution in the face of a slightly inflationary cost environment.
Benoit Bazin, Chairman and CEO, highlighted the role of the group’s strategic execution and improving trends in specific markets, particularly in Europe, in driving the reported sales growth. He emphasized Saint-Gobain’s strength in navigating a mixed macroeconomic and geopolitically uncertain landscape, attributing this to its decentralized, country-by-country organization and the balanced contributions from its diverse geographical zones. Mr. Bazin further underscored the advantage of the group’s local value chains – spanning industrial footprint, logistics, procurement, branding, sales, and customer relationships – positioning Saint-Gobain ideally within local construction markets and shielding it from direct exposure to customs tariffs. 
Examining regional performance, Europe saw a 2.2% decrease in sales during Q1, with a negative volume effect of 1.7%. However, this represents an improvement compared to the negative volume effect of 3.3% experienced in Q4 2024, suggesting that European construction markets are either stabilizing or commencing a recovery trajectory depending on the specific country.
The Americas region delivered a robust performance with 3.0% organic sales growth. This was driven by a continued good level of activity in North America and positive momentum in Latin America. Asia-Pacific also reported strong organic growth of 3.9%, primarily fueled by significant momentum in India, which effectively offset the downturn observed in China.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2025, Saint-Gobain anticipates continued stabilization in European construction markets, with a gradual country-by-country recovery expected in the second half of the year. The group foresees a sustained good level of activity in both North America and Latin America. Growth in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be primarily led by India, South-East Asia, and the integration of CSR in Australia.
Assuming no major slowdown in global growth linked to geopolitical uncertainties, Saint-Gobain has set a positive outlook, targeting an operating margin of more than 11.0% for 2025.
These first-quarter results demonstrate Saint-Gobain’s ability to adapt and perform effectively in a complex global market. The strategic focus on regional strength and local value chains appears to be a key driver of their resilience and positive future outlook.
For a comprehensive review, the full report is available here.
Source: Saint-Gobain with additional information added by GlassBalkan
