Lafarge North America Inc.

12950 Worldgate Dr.

Year founded: 1983

Industry: Manufacturing

Post 200 Category: Top 125 Companies

Revenue: $3.76 Billion

Net Income/Loss: $295.50 Million

Earnings per share: $3.86

Dividend: $0.84

Stockholder equity: $3.11 Billion

Auditor: Ernst & Young LLP

Stock: LAF

Assets: $5.40 Billion

Market capitalization: $4.32 Billion

52-week high: 63.89 3/8/2005

52-week low: 40.81 5/12/2004

Chairman: Bertrand P. Collomb

President and CEO: Philippe R. Rollier

Employees: 15300

Local employees: 650

Description: Lafarge North America is the largest diversified supplier of construction materials in the United States and Canada, with nearly 1,000 locations. It produces cement, ready-mix concrete, gypsum drywall, aggregates and asphalt for residential and commercial construction as well as public-works and highway construction. More than half of the company is owned by Lafarge Group of France.

Developments: Strong demand and unusually good weather boosted Lafarge in 2004. That contrasted with 2003, when bad weather hurt sales during the first half of the year. Sales in 2004 were up 13 percent, and profit rose 5 percent, to $295.5 million. The company transformed a debt of $18 million at the end of 2003 into a surplus of $25 million at the end of last year. Lafarge benefited both from strong demand and a strengthening Canadian dollar that added $18.3 million to operating income for the year. That offset a $9 million increase in pension and other post-retirement costs. The company paid more for paper, energy and freight last year, and it increased U.S. prices for its products. It expects steady, slow increases in prices this year. Analysts watch energy prices and the costs of raw materials. The company plans to invest $75 million in a renovation this summer of its gypsum drywall manufacturing plant in Buchanan, N.Y. The project will substantially upgrade and double the capacity of the plant. The updated production line will produce 650 million square feet of gypsum wallboard annually to meet growing demands of residential and commercial customers in the Northeast. In its February year-end conference call, company officials said the firm intends to expand its cement plants in South Carolina and Illinois. It said in its February filing that it would bring almost $1.1 billion in cash from Canada to the United States this year to take advantage of a one-time U.S. tax cut for companies that repatriate funds from foreign earnings for purposes such as capital investment and hiring new workers. Company officials said they hoped to use the cash to make acquisitions and expand and modernize current plants. It could also be used to pay off $250 million in bonds that mature in 2005.

Executive Compensation
President and CEO: Philippe R. Rollier
Total Cash: $1,036,250.00
Total Compensation: $2,809,100.00