Displaying items by tag: Results
Cementos Argos Colombia publishes progress update
26 June 2020Colombia: Cementos Argos Colombia has reported on its situation and shared its business outlook as it returns to full operations post-coronavirus lockdown. The company says that 1700 people are currently active in operations, with 910 working from home and 660 on furlough. In May 2020 it served 5300 customers, down by 74% year-on-year from 7210 in May 2019. Cement volumes fell by 41% and concrete volumes by 43%. 44 of Cementos Argos Colombia’s 58 concrete plants were operational, and 73 of its 92 work centres.
During the lockdown period the company completed over 100 new infrastructure project supply contracts. Cementos Argos Colombia regional vice president Tomás Restrepo said, “We are confident in a positive future, in our resilience, in the ability to face challenges and that we have extraordinary talent who are aware of the importance of self-care and who work every day on good ideas to continue to be the best allies of our client.”
India: The India Cements recorded a profit of US$4.70m in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2020, down by 49% year-on-year from US$9.18m in the 2019 fiscal year. Sales fell by 10% to US$669m from US$744m. The company attributed the fall in revenue partly to the suspension of operations in the fourth quarter following the beginning of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown in late March 2020.
Vicat publishes business activity update
24 June 2020France: Vicat says that group business activity increased month-on-month between April and May 2020. In a special update on business in the context of the coronavirus, the company said that the outbreak’s impacts varied across the 12 countries in which it operates, all of which locked down due to the pandemic.
In France, the level of business is “slightly lower” than in May 2019 following a steady recovery from a “strong slowdown in mid-March 2020.” Macroeconomic and competition issues continue in Egypt and Turkey, not however due to the coronavirus outbreak, while volumes and prices have generally increased in Switzerland, the US, Brazil and Western Africa, except in Senegal, where the government has cancelled infrastructure projects. Following the pan-Indian lockdown between 24 March 2020 and 17 April 2020, business in India has resumed, albeit at a “level significantly below that of the same period of 2019.”
The group says that it is planning cost-cutting measures and has postponed a planned US price rise to late 2020.
India: JK Cement’s sales rose by 10% year-on-year to US$763m in the financial year to 31 March 2020 from US$691m in the same period in 2019. Its sales volumes of cement decreased slightly to 9.8Mt and its profit after tax nearly doubled to US$63.5m. However, its sales fell slightly in the fourth quarter, sales volumes of cement dropped by 7% year-on-year to 2.9Mt and it reported a significantly reduced standalone net profit.
The cement producer said that its operations had gradually stabilising since coronavirus lockdown measures were relaxed. All of its integrated and cement grinding plants had resumed production and despatch. It noted that due to lower power demands less fly ash was available so it is sourcing this from other locations. Labour shortages are also affecting bag supplies and the availability of drivers. As part of cash conservation measures it has restricted capital expenditure to US$66m in the current financial year.
France: Fives’ sales across all business lines rose by 2.5% year-on-year to Euro2bn in 2019, mainly due to positive currency effects. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 28% to Euro120m from Euro94m due to “a strong increase in orders for equipment and small systems in almost all segments except cement.” However, the group reported a loss of Euro22.6m in 2019, up from 19.9m in 2018.
The equipment manufacturer noted two cement industry trends impacting upon its process technologies division. Firstly, European and American players “continue to streamline their portfolios and cut costs.” Secondly, in the rest of the world, “the market still pays little heed to environmental and energy issues,” meaning that decisions are made at prohibitively low price levels.
India: In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending 31 March 2020 Dalmia Bharat sold 5.17Mt of cement worth US$326m, down by 13% year-on-year from US$374m in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Net profit for the quarter was US$3.16m. The company said that the figure was “not comparable to the previous year’s fourth quarter profit of US$34.6 due to a change in reporting standards, according to the Press Trust of India. Full year net profit fell by 32% to US$31.3m from US$45.9m and revenues grew by 2% to US$1.27bn from US$1.25bn.
Egypt: Misr Cement Qena’s first quarter sales were US$50.4m in 2020, up by 2.0% year-on-year from US$49.1m in the first quarter of 2019. Daily News Egypt has reported that the company’s debts on 31 March 2020 were US$30.0m, down by 20% from US$37.5 on 31 December 2019. Misr Cement Qena managing director Tarek Talaat said, “The extraordinary performance in the quarter will contribute to alleviating the repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak on the company’s 2020 results.” Talaat urged the “revitalisation of demand” to boost prices. Egyptian producers produced 78.0Mt of cement in 2019, 29.3Mt surplus to the domestic cement demand of 48.7Mt/yr.
Steppe Cement shares 2019 results
11 June 2020Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$23.9m in 2019, up by 12% year-on-year from US$21.4m in 2018. Sales volumes of cement remained stable at 1.7Mt with local sales increasing by 4% and exports decreasing by 29% due to increased competition and negative currency effects. Steppe Cement said that overall domestic demand was 8.9Mt, up by 2% from 8.7Mt in 2018. The company operated at 88% production capacity and production costs per tonne rose by 10% due to increases in fuel and transportation prices.
HeidelbergCement India reports 8.9% fourth quarter profit growth in 2019 - 20 fiscal year
29 May 2020India: HeidelbergCement has recorded a profit of US$8.77m in the three months to 31 March 2020, up by 8.9% year-on-year from US$8.06m over the corresponding period of the 2018 - 2019 fiscal year. Sales fell by 4.7% to US$67.5m from US$70.8m. HeidelbergCement India has attributed the profit to a decrease in operating expenditure of 8.6%, to US$50.7m from US$55.4m, according to Dion News Service.
Morocco: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments du Maroc made sales of US$88.4m in the first quarter of 2020, down by 9.8% year-on-year from US$100m in the corresponding quarter of 2019. Cement volumes fell by 9.9%. Ciments du Maroc said that it increased its capital expenditure by 43% to US$1.51m from US$824,000.