Displaying items by tag: Results
Cementir sales down in 2018 due to issues in Egypt and Norway
15 February 2019Italy: Cementir Holding’s sales revenue fell by 4.2% in 2018 on a like-for-like basis due to poor performance in Egypt and Norway. Military operations in the Sinai impacted production in Egypt between February and May 2018 and bad weather in Norway affected the first quarter. However, it noted good results in Malaysia, Belgium and China.
On an adjusted basis its revenue rose by 4.9% to Euro1.2bn from Euro1.14bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 7.1% to Euro239m from Euro223m. Grey and white cement sales volumes fell by 4.4% to 9.8Mt from 10.3Mt. Ready-mixed concrete volumes fell slightly to 4.9Mm3.
Yamama Cement sales fall due to low demand and high competition
15 February 2019Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement’s sales fell by 30% year-on-year to US$139m in 2018 from US$199m in 2017. Its profit decreased by 82% to US$9m from US$51m. The cement producer blamed its performance on falling demand for cement and ‘fierce’ competition.
Prices and markets drive GCC sales in 2018
14 February 2019US/Mexico: Growing cement sales volumes and higher prices in the US and Mexico drove Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s (GCC) sales in 2018. Its net sales rose by 7.2% year-on-year to US$883m in 2018 from US$824m in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 6.7% to US$256m from US$240m. However, its net income fell by 24.2% to US$63.5m from US$83.7m. US sales rose by 7.1% to US$883m and Mexican sales rose by 7.2% to US$237m.
“We completed a purchase-sale transaction exchanging GCC’s ready-mix plants in Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas, which were not integrated into our cement distribution network, for a cement plant in Montana representing a strategic addition to our system that will also improve our profitability. This plant, along with the completion of capacity expansion at our South Dakota cement plant in Rapid City, will enable us to continue to benefit from the robust pace of growth in the US economy,” said Enrique Escalante, GCC’s chief executive officer.
Martin Marietta cement sales rise in 2018
14 February 2019US: Martin Marietta's sales rose by 7% year-on-year to US$4.24bn in 2018 from US$3.97bn in 2017. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained stable at US$1.1bn. Revenue from its cement business grew by 4.5% to US$388m from US$371m.Cement shipments increased slightly to 3.5Mt. The building materials company said that its cement shipments had been negatively affected by bad weather in the fourth quarter. The bulk of the company's revenue comes from it aggregate business followed by ready-mix concrete.
W&P Cementi and Friulana Calcestruzzi grow in 2018
14 February 2019Italy: W&P Cementi and Friulana Calcestruzzi’s turnover grew by 12% year-on-year to Euro35m in 2018. W&P Cementi produced around 0.35Mt of cement and binders, according to the Il Friuli newspaper. Friulana Calcestruzzi produced around 0.12Mm3 of ready-mix concrete. The companies are part of Austria’s Alpacem brand bringing together cement and concrete subsidiaries of Wietersdorfer Group in Austria, Slovenia and Italy. The group has a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr and a concrete production capacity of 0.3Mm3 across 19 sites with over 640 staff.
Cherat Cement’s turnover falls in half-year
14 February 2019Pakistan: Cherat Cement’s turnover fell by 7% year-on-year to US$50.3m in the six months to 31 December 2018 from US$54.2m in the same period in 2017. Its operating profit dropped by 38% to US$6.8m from US$10.9m.
Cemex in 2018
13 February 2019Cemex was the first of the big multinational cement producers to release its fourth quarter results this week. Revenue, sales volumes of cement and gross profit were all up in single digits. Earnings growth was less impressive, with operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rising by 1% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis to US$2.56bn in 2018. This was a decrease of 1% in real terms. Cemex blamed this on rising energy costs and on lower earnings from its territories outside of Mexico and the US.
Figure 1: Breakdown of Cemex’s net sales in 2018 by region: Source: Cemex.
As Figure 1 shows, over three quarters of Cemex’s sales come from Mexico, the US and Europe. Elsewhere its presence is smaller but it does have plants in key countries like the Philippines and Egypt. The former, for example, saw its cement sales rise by 7% in 2018 bringing along the rest of the Asia, Middle East and Africa region into volume growth.
Some other non-financial results to consider lead with the good news that 2018 was the first year ever that Cemex has had without any employee fatalities. This probably doesn’t include contractors or third parties, we’ll have to wait for the next sustainability report to find out for sure, but this is undoubtedly a milestone. Another point of interest was the growth of Cemex Go, its online sales platform. In 2018 it was responsible for around 40% of the company’s sales volumes. Around 85% of its recurring clients use it and it has nearly 30,000 customers. The analytics alone from the system and the potential for further tailoring it towards both customer and company objectives sound promising. Lastly, Cemex was also keen to note its alternative fuels substitution rate of 27% in 2018.
In recent years the other metric that the analysts have been watching is Cemex’s debt. It dropped by 8% year-on-year to US$10.4bn in 2018 compared to a high of US$17.5bn in 2013. Its plan is to reach an ‘investment-grade’ balance sheet by 2020.
In this way Cemex has been ahead of the curve of the major European cement multinationals like LafargeHolcim and HeidelbergCement that have taken on ‘indigestible’ acquisitions more recently. Possibly behind all of these companies is CRH, which has steadily been growing in recent years through acquisitions. It made the headlines this week on the corporate side when Swedish so-called ‘activist investor’ Cevian bought what is thought to be around a 3% stake in the Irish company. The financial press thinks it’s after a seat on the board to try and influence CRH to focus on margins rather than its acquisition strategy. CRH’s EBITDA margin was 12% in 2017 compared to 23%, 19% and 19% for LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Cemex respectively. This is just one way of comparing these companies. CRH, for example, might be keen to promote how its other metrics like cash generation and return on capital employed perform compare favourably to its competitors.
The point though is that it has taken Cemex over a decade since its acquisition of Rinker to rebuild its finances. All being well, it stands ready to take advantage of whatever the cement market holds in the 2020s.
HeidelbergCement India’s sales grow
13 February 2019India: HeidelbergCement India’s sales rose by 11.9% year-on-year to US$222m in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$202m in the same period in 2017. Its expense increased by 3.5% to US$193m from US$186m. Its net profit nearly doubled to US$22.6m. The cement producer reported a strong third quarter of its 2017 – 2018 financial year due to improved construction activity in central India.
Gujarat Sidhee Cement makes loss so far in 2018
13 February 2019India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement’s revenue grew by 2.3% year-on-year to US$57.5m in the nine months to 31 December 2018 from US$56.2m in the same period in 2017. It made a loss of US$1.66m compared to a profit of US$1.87m previously. Its costs rose by 13% to US$62m from US$55m, in part due to the cost of raw materials.
Cementos Pacasmayo grows sales in 2018
13 February 2019Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo’s sales rose in 2018 due to higher sales to medium-sized companies, the self-construction sector and the public sector. The cement producer said that this was the first year it had reported growth after five years of ‘flat’ volumes. Its sales rose by 3.5% year-on-year to US$379m from US$366m. Cement production increased by 2.6% to 2.35Mt from 2.29Mt and clinker production increased by 4.7% to 1.72Mt from 1.64Mt. Its consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 14.7% to US$112 from US$97.2m.