By William Horobin

PARIS--French building materials group Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA (SGO.FR) said Thursday it will cancel 6.1 million of shares the company owns.

The 6.1 million shares represent just over 1% of the company's total shares and a little over EUR223.8 million, based on the closing price on the Paris market Thursday.

The company said it is cancelling the shares to compensate for the creation of shares as part of employee shareholding programs this year.

Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com

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