Africa/South Africa: Despite a decline in the construction sector, cement giant Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) continues to defy the odds as it posted a 9% uptick in quarterly sales revenue. The cement producer said sales revenue in South Africa has seen an upswing of 2% with volumes increasing by at least 9%, although earnings per share disappointed as it fell by 55% for the period. However, revenue from outside of South Africa rose by 19% on the back of significant volume growth and newly commissioned plants in Rwanda as well as gains from the currency translations in Zimbabwe and Botswana. "The group's revenue has improved by 6% supported by strong cement sales volume growth in South Africa and Rwanda. Cement sales volumes grew in excess of 30% in the Coastal regions in South Africa," CEO Daryll Castle said.

"However, good cost control has led to further impressive declines in group overheads while variable delivered cost of sales per tonne in the South African cement business were well below inflation," Castle said. In addition, the cement maker said its cost of sales was also on the rise, increasing by 14% to R1.8bn (US$99m), largely on the back of higher volumes in the South African cement industry as well as more expensive logistics which rose by 3% during the period. "On consolidation of foreign currency denominated subsidiaries, the weakness of the rand contributed to rising cost of sales. Gross profit decreased by 11%, from R709m (US$50m) for the quarter ended June 2015 to R630m (US$44.4m) for the current quarter. "This decrease was mainly ascribed to the impact of selling prices pressures felt in our key cement operating markets together with the lower sales volumes in Zimbabwe and Botswana," the company said. But, the company said the R135m (US$9.5m)acquisition of 3Q Mahuma Concrete, one of the largest independently owned ready-mix concrete supplier in South Africa, will improve PPC's ready-mix footprint.