In May, Sika completed the purchase of MBCC, a former construction chemical business of BASF. Its first-half results include two months of sales and earnings from MBCC, which has been consolidated into its figures since May 1.

Sika said it expects to increase sales by over 15% in 2023, when measured in local currencies, including MBCC. The company had earlier expected to reach annual sales of 12 billion francs this year as a result of the acquisition.

"We are currently expecting the market environment to improve in the second half of the year... growth potential remains apparent despite a subdued global economy," Chief Executive Thomas Hasler said.

The company said it had costs of 89.5 million francs in the first-half of the year relating to the acquisition and integration of MBCC.

Sika is anticipating the costs relating to the MBCC takeover to amount to approximately 200 million francs, of which 167.8 million francs have already been booked.

However, the company, whose products are used to waterproof and strengthen roofs, flooring and also as adhesives in the automotive industry, reported a 21.6% decrease in operating profit for the period, at 660.4 million francs.

Sika is seen as a signifier for the health of the broader construction industry.

So far in 2023, it has opened a new factory in India and acquired a maker of shotcrete and other products for the mining industry in the United States and bought a manufacturer of micro fibers.

($1 = 0.8739 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill in Zurich and Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)