UPDATE 1-Britain's SIG reports muted sales as construction industry stalls

(Adds details and background throughout) Oct 17 (Reuters) – Britain's SIG on Friday said demand in the European construction market remained muted in the third quarter, with no signs of recovery, as the building materials supplier posted flat like-for-like sales for the period. The company, like peers Travis Perkins and Ibstock , has been bogged down by cautious customers and builders pulling back on projects due to rising costs. The Sheffield-based SIG, which operates in six key European markets of UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Benelux, said demand in the quarter was well below historical levels across all markets, with European construction stuck in a cyclical rut, and recovery taking longer than expected. SIG said overall like-for-like sales – a revenue measure from ongoing operations, excluding acquisitions and closures – remained at 664 million pounds ($893.81 million), with full-year profit outlook also unchanged at market estimates of 31.6 million pounds. SIG's UK sales grew 1% in the period, driven by strong performance in its interiors business. Ireland and Germany posted the steepest declines with 11% and 5% respectively. ($1 = 0.7429 pounds) (Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Harikrishnan Nair)

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