Saint-Gobain, one of the largest suppliers of building materials, yesterday successfully returned to the bond market, taking advantage of strong investor demand to sell a larger than expected sterling deal.

The French company, which bought UK plasterboard maker BPB for £3.9bn (€5.8bn) last November, secured £100m more than initially targeted in a £600m bond issue managed by Barclays Capital, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland.