Displaying items by tag: Mexico
Cemex reports 8% rise in sales for 2011
02 February 2012Mexico: Cemex has reported rises in its net sales for both the fourth quarter of 2011 and the full year. Geographically this increase for the fourth quarter was due to higher volume and prices in local-currency terms in the United States, northern Europe and Latin America regions. Sales were flat in Mexico, the Mediterranean region and Asia.
For the group as a whole consolidated net sales increased by 6% during the fourth quarter of 2011 to approximately US$3.7bn and increased by 8% for the full year to US$15.1bn versus the comparable periods in 2010. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 13% during the fourth quarter of 2011 to US$542m and increased by 1% for the full year to US$2.3bn versus 2010. The infrastructure and residential sectors were the main drivers of demand in most of its markets.
Fernando A Gonzalez, Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, said, "This is the fifth consecutive quarter of top-line growth in our results. We are particularly pleased with the quarterly performance of our operations in northern Europe; the South, Central America and Caribbean region; and the United States. Regarding our full-year results, we saw net sales and operating EBITDA growing for the first time in four years."
Net sales in the company's operations in Mexico decreased 9% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to US$818m, compared with US$902m in the fourth quarter of 2010. Operating EBITDA increased by 7% to US$307m versus the same period of 2010.
Cemex's operations in the United States reported net sales of US$682m in the fourth quarter of 2011, up by 19% from the same period in 2010. In northern Europe, net sales increased by 16% to US$1.1bn, compared with US$950m in the fourth quarter of 2010. In the Mediterranean region sales were US$385m, 14% lower versus those in the comparable period of 2010. South, Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales were US$447m during the fourth quarter of 2011, representing an increase of 22% over the same period of 2010.
In Asia net sales were flat reaching US$124m.
Cemex reports fourth quarterly improvement in a row
26 October 2011The Americas: Cemex has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2011. These show that its consolidated net sales increased by 5% compared to the same period of 2010 to approximately USD3.9bn. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 1% during the quarter to USD658m compared to 2010. Operating income in the third quarter increased by 7% to USD305m, from the comparable period in 2010.
Cemex attributed the increase in consolidated net sales to higher sales, mainly from its operations in northern Europe, the United States and South & Central America and the Caribbean. It said that the infrastructure and residential sectors were the main drivers of demand in those and other regional markets.
Cemex's net sales in Mexico decreased by 1% in the third quarter of 2011 to USD856m, compared with USD868m in the third quarter of 2010. Operating EBITDA of USD285m was unchanged.Operations in the US reported net sales of USD713m in the third quarter of 2011, up by 4% from the same period in 2010. Operating EBITDA was a loss of USD10m.
Cemex's operations in South & Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales of USD453m, a 24% increase. In this region, its operating EBITDA increased by 33% to USD144m, compared to USD108m in 2010.
Fernando A González, Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, said, "This is the fourth consecutive quarter of top-line growth in our results. We also saw stable consolidated pricing on a quarter-on-quarter basis in local-currency terms. We are particularly pleased with the quarterly performance of our operations in the Northern Europe and the South, Central American and Caribbean regions."
"We have raised USD80m in asset sales during the first nine months of 2011 and expect to raise an additional USD100-200m during the fourth quarter. We estimate total proceeds from asset sales will reach USD1bn by the end of 2012."
"We also continue to be confident in our ability to meet all of our financial obligations. We have also prepaid all of maturities under our Financial Agreement until December 2013 and proactively bolstered our liquidity needs," he added.
Cemex intends to raise USD1bn from asset sales by end of 2012
29 September 2011Mexico: Lorenzo Zambrano, the chairman and chief executive of Cemex, has announced that he expects the company to raise USD1bn from asset sales by the end of 2012. This is part of a continuing strategy to lower its debt, including USD180m in 2011.
In a webcast meeting with investors Zambrano said that the highly leveraged Cemex doesn't want to own assets that produce less than a 10% return on capital. "We will only sell assets that will improve our return on capital and help us to deliver our balance sheet," he stated.
Cemex's heavy debt load, USD18.4bn in total debt plus perpetual notes as of 30 June 2011, coupled with a slow recovery in key markets has contributed to investor pessimism that has knocked Cemex's share price down sharply. Zambrano added that Cemex hadn't anticipated the extent of the effects of the recession in the US, one of its largest markets along with Mexico, but that he expects Cemex's US operations to be profitable in 2012.
Chihuahua to sell Soboce stake to Peruvian group
22 August 2011Bolivia/Peru: The Mexican cement maker Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) has announced that it has finalised the sale of its 47% stake in Bolivian peer Sociedad Boliviana de Cementos (Soboce) to a unit of a major Peruvian conglomerate. GCC said that its stake in Bolivia's top cement maker would go to Consorcio Cementero del Sur, S.A., a subsidiary of the agroindustrial Grupo Gloria. It gave no details regarding the value of the deal.
"Proceeds from the transaction will be used primarily for debt reduction, in line with the company's goal of improving its financial profile and strengthening its core businesses in the US and Mexico," said GCC in a statement.
Previously, in April 2011, a judge in Bolivia ordered a freeze on assets held by Soboce, 53% of which is owned by a group controlled by Samuel Doria Medina, who is a political rival of the country's President Evo Morales.
Cemex reports second-quarter 2011 results
25 July 2011Mexico: Cemex has announced that its consolidated net sales increased by 9% during the second quarter of 2011 to approximately USD4.1bn compared to the same period in 2010. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 7% during the quarter to USD615m compared to the same period of 2010.
The group attributed the increase in consolidated net sales due to higher volumes mainly from operations in Northern Europe, South/Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, with infrastructure and residential sectors acting as the main drivers of demand in most markets.
The group's free cash flow (after maintenance capital expenditures) for the quarter was USD18m, compared with USD187m in the same quarter of 2010. Its operating income in the second quarter declined by 12% to USD258m.
Fernando González, Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, said, "This is the third consecutive quarter of top-line growth in our results. We are pleased with the quarterly performance of our operations in Northern Europe, the South, Central American and Caribbean region and Mexico, which helped mitigate the challenging conditions of the construction sector in the US. We also remain focused on our transformation process, which will reach a run rate of USD400m in recurring improvement in our steady state EBITDA by the end of 2012."
Net sales in Mexico increased by 5% in the second quarter of 2011 to USD968m, compared with USD923m in the second quarter of 2010. Operating EBITDA declined by 4% to USD309m versus the same period of 2010. Cemex's operations in the US reported net sales of USD619m, down by 9% from the same period in 2010. Operating EBITDA was a loss of USD22m.
In Northern Europe, net sales for the second quarter of 2011 increased by a massive 24% to USD1.35bn, compared with USD1.10bn in the second quarter of 2010. Operating EBITDA for the region was USD152m, 52% higher than in 2010. Second-quarter net sales in the Mediterranean region were flat at USD477m. Operating EBITDA decreased 15% to USD125m for the quarter versus the comparable period in 2010.
The group's operations in South/Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales of USD442m, an increase of 23% over the same period of 2010. Operating EBITDA decreased by 3% to USD125m in the second quarter of 2011, from USD128m in the second quarter of 2010.
Conversely, Asia saw a surprise decrease reporting a 9% decrease in net sales for the second quarter of 2011 to USD129m. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was USD22m, down a gigantic 45% from the same period of 2010.
Mexico’s Cemex cancels bond sale
07 July 2011Mexico: Indebted Mexican cement maker Cemex has cancelled its plans to sell USD650m in bonds as investors are worried about a global economic slowdown. Struggling with limited cash flow and a weak US market, Cemex aimed to raise money to help pay USD1.2bn in debt amortisations by the end of 2013 before being hit with an USD8bn payments bottleneck in 2014.
"Given market volatility and unfavourable performance of markets today, Cemex has decided to not pursue the transaction," the company said in a statement.
Cemex to cut 6% of total workforce
15 June 2011Mexico: Cemex has announced that it has plans to cut 6% of its workforce worldwide (around 2800 jobs) as part of its wider plans for reorganisation that were announced at the start of 2011. Cemex said that it hopes to generate USD 400m in additional cash flow by the end of 2012 by cutting costs and improving underperforming business units.
Cemex has been struggling with its debt load after buying Australian rival Rinker just before the US housing crisis began. The company reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss in the first quarter of 2011, but said that increased sales were a sign of a slow recovery.