Jean-Louis Beffa, Saint-Gobain's CE, told analysts the sale of its bottle division would take place, "As quickly as possible, but without locking ourselves up in a timeframe." The group reported full-year earnings above forecasts, with operating profits up 30% to EUR 3.7BN. It forecast double digit growth in net profits in 2007, helped by a rebound in German construction & a boom in demand for energy-saving insulation products. Mr Beffa confirmed Saint-Gobain would sell "Desjonqueres" in the next few weeks, for an enterprise value of about EUR 690M, but the group did not comment on a later report that private equity groups Sagard & Cognetas had already bought it. Mr.Beffa is to hand over leadership of Saint-Gobain after a 21-year reign. He and his successor, Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, sought to calm speculation about the group's future, saying it had not received any approach from a private equity fund, & had no plans to merge with Lafarge, its French peer. Clyde Lewis, analyst at Citigroup, said the group "looks ripe for major change but it remains unclear how much more aggressive the new CEO may be in the 2H of the year".
