Wienerberger CEO expects 2015 to be a "good year"

Austrian brickmaker Wienerberger expects 2015 to be a "good year" after it finished a restructuring and thanks to increasing demand in the United States, Britain and northern Europe, its chief executive told Austria's Wirtschaftsblatt.

"We will have a good year and generate a good result under our own steam," CEO Heimo Scheuch was quoted as saying in Tuesday's edition. "We are growing organically."

Business in Eastern Europe was recovering from a very low level, while business in its home market Austria, in Germany and in Switzerland did not perform so well, Scheuch said.

But he said Wienerberger, the world's biggest brickmaker, planned to gain market share everywhere.

The company - which increasingly focuses on making specialised pipes that can be used in households, the oil and gas industry and for desalination plants - finished a five-year restructuring programme last year.

Wienerberger said in May it expected 2015 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 350 million euros ($385 million), up from 317 million in 2014.

The company made a 2014 loss of 40 million euros after tax. ($1 = 0.9097 euros) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)

Source Reuters