05 May 2022

France: Vicat recorded first-quarter sales of Euro789m in 2022, up by 12% year-on-year from Euro707m in the first quarter of 2021. The group reported ‘solid’ year-on-year consolidated sales growth across all of its regions, with price rises offsetting negative volume effects. Cement sales grew by 7.4% in France, 4.1% in the rest of Europe, 18% in the US, 26% in Brazil and 8.5% in Africa. The Russian invasion of Ukraine did not manifest in any impacts on group activity in the quarter. Vicat estimates that in order to offset higher power costs it will need to raise its cement prices by 15% year-on-year in 2022 as a whole.

Group chair and chief executive officer Guy Sidos said “Vicat’s first-quarter sales performance reflects the dynamism of its markets, despite a high basis of comparison.” He continued “In a global environment providing little visibility in the short term, especially as regards energy costs, we are executing our strategy to improve our production performance, make greater use of secondary fuels and implement a pricing policy tailored to this new environment in pursuit of our operational, environmental and societal targets."

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement recorded sales of US$84m in the first quarter of 2022, down by 49% year-on-year from first-quarter 2021 levels. Its net profit in the quarter was US$16.3m, down by 49%.

Denmark: FLSmidth’s sales were US$670m in the first quarter of 2022, up by 27% year-on-year. Its earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITA) rose by 59% to US$43m. The supplier’s cement business recorded a sales increase of 10%. This contributed to a continuation in the ‘positive trend’ in earnings from the end of 2021, along with improvements from executed reshaping activities. The business made a property sale worth US$3.27m. In light of the results for the quarter, the company announced that it has maintained its guidance of US$2.49 – 2.71bn consolidated sales and US$783 – 855m in cement business sales in 2022.

Chief executive officer Mikko Keto said “The first quarter of 2022 saw a strong momentum in order intake driven by both mining and cement.” Keto expanded “Our cement business has continued its positive development on improving profitability.”

Regarding the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said “Our key priority in this challenging time of war has been on the safety and well-being of our employees. We closely follow this tragic situation to ensure we take the right responsible decisions from a humanitarian, legal, and financial point of view.”

Germany: Beumer has announced its acquisition of conveying systems supplier FAM Group. The group says that the two companies complement each other ‘ideally.’ FAM Group employs 750 people in Germany, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China and India, as well as representatives elsewhere. Beumer says that the company’s ‘leading technology’ for transporting and processing minerals fits well with its own portfolio.