France’s Lafarge, the world’s largest cement maker, said second-quarter operating income fell 16 per cent, missing analysts’ forecasts, as higher raw material costs took their toll. Lafarge has struggled to push through price hikes to compensate for higher raw materials prices.The higher prices squeezed margins in the second quarter, resulting in a decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to 702 million euros, missing the 774 million average estimate in a Reuters analyst poll.“The slight miss at the EBITDA level is attributable to lower-than-expected margins in western Europe, which offset a better-than-expected outcome in all other regions,” analysts at Nomura said in a research note.Second-quarter sales were flat at 4.42 billion euros ($6.42 billion), in line with analyst estimates, but the company’s operating margin narrowed to 15.9 per cent from 18.8 per cent. Lafarge shares were down 3.1 per cent, bringing their decline so far this year to 18 per cent.The company said it expected to see market growth of 2 to 5 per cent for the year thanks to increased cement demand mainly driven by emerging markets. From / Gulf Today