Rougier strengthens its import activities in France:

Rougier Sylvaco and Rougier Panneaux now become one business, Rougier Sylvaco Panneaux.

The move, said an official statement is designed to strengthen the group’s ability to “answer new challenges in a French distribution sector marked by considerable market concentration and rapidly developing demand for new services and products”.

“In certain customer sectors, Sylvaco and Panneaux were already very close,” said the company. “It makes perfect sense to join their complementary skills.”

Combined, the operations sell more than more than 40,000m3 of products a year in France, imported from Europe, Africa, America and Asia.

Rougier says the Sylvaco Panneaux business will also be boosted by relocation of warehousing operations from La Pallice in Caen. This is not only a bigger site but “gets the business closer to the maritime freight facilities of Le Havre. The group also has storage at Sète and Gennevilliers.

The merger will be completed through the second half of the year. Rougier group has also reported improving performance through 2013. Sales for the year were down marginally on 2012 at €141.7 million and the business returned an EBITDA loss up from €1.4m to €5.2m. However, it said that the negatives were the result of “combination of non-recurring factors” in the first six months, notably €3.6m of “impairment” to assets in Gabon.

“A significant turnaround in the final months of 2013 points to a better level of business in 2014, buoyed by improvements in the economic environment,” said the company.