(Reuters) - Swiss chemicals company Sika AG reported a 5.6% increase in sales for the first nine months of 2023 on Friday, boosted by its recent acquisition of Germany-based MBCC, and it also confirmed its full-year sales forecast.
The company, whose chemical additives are used to strengthen and waterproof building materials in walls, floors and roofs, said its sales rose to 8.45 billion Swiss francs ($9.48 billion) in the nine months through September.
Sika said sales rose by 12.4% in local currency, which cuts out the impact of the rising franc, for the period.
It confirmed it still expects full-year local currency sales to increase by more than 15%.
"We are growing at a double-digit rate and have further increased our profitability," Chief Executive Thomas Hasler said in a statement.
"Overall, we are closing in on the margin level that we recorded before the strong rise in raw material prices over the last two years."
While its operating profit, or earnings before interest and taxes, decreased 7% to about 1.15 billion francs in the nine-month period, Sika said it still expects to increase its operating profit for the year.
However, the forecast excludes the impact of MBCC, the former BASF construction chemicals business Sika bought for 5.5 billion Swiss francs in its largest acquisition ever.
Sika said it now expects annual synergies of 180-200 million francs from the acquisition, higher than its previously forecast of 160-180 million francs.
Sika, whose results give an insight into the health of the broader construction industry, has previously spoken about high inflation and rising interest rates weighing on the sector.
Earlier this week, the company said it had been one of the European construction chemicals makers targeted by European Commission raids as part of a broader investigation into price fixing.
Sika said it was cooperating with the investigation, but was not aware of any culpability. ($1 = 0.8914 Swiss francs)