Buzzi Unicem sees stable core profit despite Italy slowdown

(Reuters) - Italian cement maker Buzzi Unicem said on Wednesday it expects to maintain in 2023 the level of recurring core profits reached last year, even as economic uncertainties and the war in Ukraine weaken Italy's growth prospects.

Recurring core profit came in at 892 million euros ($966.57 million) in 2022, beating the company's own guidance of around 880 million euros given just last month.

Buzzi said it expects Italy's real estate market to weaken this year due to a slowdown in the residential sector and delays in the implementation of Rome's post-COVID recovery plan.

In the United States, the group's biggest market, it expects similar volumes to those of last year.

Regarding its Russian subsidiary, Buzzi said it did not have "sufficient elements to provide indications on the results expected for 2023."

The book value of its net assets in Russia amounted to 334 million euros at the end of December, after writing off the whole goodwill of 122 million, the company said.

Buzzi announced in May it had cut all operational involvement in the activities carried out by the subsidiary SLK Cement in Russia.

After an initial slump following publication of its results on Wednesday, shares in the company recovered and were up 2.0% at 15:00 GMT

($1 = 0.9228 euros)

(Reporting by Carlo Giovanni Boffa, editing by Gavin Jones)