In 2013, growth in Brazil’s construction industry lagged the country’s overall economy, breaking a trend in the data series that has lasted three years and accompanying the continued slow growth in global markets. Still suffering the impacts from an unfavorable environment, the construction materials industry registered growth below the initial forecast for the year of 3.0%. Meanwhile, Eternit registered consolidated net revenue growth of 5.6% to outpace the industry average, thanks to the solid performance of the domestic market.
This result is the product of a long-term vision that fosters sustainable and continuous development. The three vectors of our activities – organic growth, diversified organic growth and inorganic growth – effectively support the development strategy adopted, with our focus divided equally between our daily activities and our long-term vision. The solid planning carried out to achieve consistent growth also helps us overcome the challenges currently faced by the construction industry.
Another key foundation of our performance is our employees, who are essential to putting into practice our strategies and ensuring the success of our business. We confirmed our place among the best companies to work for in Brazil in the main people management rankings, building on the upward trend in place since 2005 in the mining business and since 2012 in the fiber-cement business.
In 2014, the Company will continue to invest in modernizing its industrial facilities and in building a unit to research, develop and produce construction materials inputs located in Manaus, Amazonas. Also in 2014, we will inaugurate, in the state of Ceará, the first bathroom chinaware unit of Companhia Sulamericana de Cerâmica (CSC), which is a joint venture between Eternit and the Colombian multinational Colceramica.
All our actions seek to balance the social, environmental and economic aspects of our business, in keeping with the precepts of the Global Compact, to which we are signatories and reaffirm our commitment. They could not have been put into practice without the efforts of the professionals who are and have been a part of our Company over its history. This is how we honor the memory of businessman Élio A. Martins, who over the course of his 38 years of dedication to Eternit – 13 of them as CEO – played a fundamental role in transforming it into one of the most important companies in Brazil’s construction materials industry.
Nelson Pazikas