Office construction crisis pulls Eiffage sales down
* Q3 sales down 1.1 pct to 3.354 billion
* Backlog down 3.1 pct to 9.6 billion euros
By Michel Rose
PARIS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Third quarter sales at French public works group Eiffage (FOUG.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) slipped 1.1 percent as construction of new offices in France remained weak.
Analysts at Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank had been expecting a small increase for the quarter. The decline was less than the 2.1 percent year-on-year drop of the second quarter.
Eiffage, the builder of the Sydney Opera House that was involved with the Channel Tunnel, said construction division sales were down 13 percent due to the property crisis.
"Business for Eiffage Immobilier remains steady in residential property... but is very weak in the business property market," the group said.
Construction revenues from Poland and the Czech Republic were particularly lower than at the same period last year. Continued...
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