Displaying items by tag: Cemex Latam Holdings

Colombia: Cemex Latam Holdings, the Latin American arm of Mexico's Cemex, has reported unfavourable results in the first quarter of 2015 in Colombia and said that its stocks have been affected, despite the fact that the region turned towards infrastructure improvement projects. As the company's share value in Pesos has dropped by 30% and it has recorded another 35% decline due to depreciation, Cemex Latam Holdings' value in US Dollars is 70% lower.

Company president Carlos Jacks has attributed the poor results in January - March 2015 to the 25% depreciation against the US Dollar, as well as the fact that its 31% growth in 2014 was far higher than the industry average. Another factor was the decision that Colombia should return or generate the same cash flow or the same amount of US Dollars before the depreciation and so it raised its prices, thinking that there would not be a reversal of the exchange rate.

Cemex Latam Holdings will work to recover the price in June 2015 and Jacks feels more confident about the second half of the year. Better sales volumes are expected if its efforts are successful. The company hopes that its local division will return to levels prior to the depreciation of the exchange rate in terms of its cash flow in US Dollars as a result. The business anticipates some momentum in housing programmes over 2016, as well as participation in the first wave of 4G motorway projects and possibly the second wave towards the close of 2015. It projects that around US$5bn/yr will be spent on cement, or US$500m each, while the projects will require some 3.50Mt of cement. The entire market consumes 13Mt/yr of cement. Cemex Latam Holdings will invest around US$180m in 2015 and the funds will mainly be used to expand the production capacity at its plant in Maceo, Colombia or premises in Monterrey, Mexico.

Costa Rica: Cemex, has announced that its subsidiary, Cemex Latam Holdings, will invest US$35m over the next three years to increase the capacity of its plant in Colorado, Costa Rica. The news comes only a few days after the firm announced the resumption of a capacity upgrade at its Tepeaca plant in Mexico.

The project in Costa Rica will increase cement production capacity at the Colorado plant by about 25% and also includes construction of a new grinding mill. By 2017, the plant will have the capacity to produce 1.1Mt/yr of cement.

"We are confident that infrastructure projects will continue driving demand for building materials over the medium-term," said Alejandro Ramirez, director of Cemex Latam Holdings in Costa Rica.

Colombia: Cemex has announced that it will begin construction of a US$340m cement plant in Colombia. The first phase of the project includes construction of a new grinding mill that will begin to produce cement in the second quarter of 2015. The rest of the plant will be completed in the second half of 2016.

"We are proud to contribute to the development of Colombia and wish to continue to be a long-term partner on its path to a prosperous, sustainable future," said Cemex's CEO, Fernando Gonzalez. The investment by Cemex Latam Holdings is expected to boost production capacity in Colombia from 4.5Mt/yr to nearly 5.5Mt/yr.

The plant will be built in the north-western Colombian province of Antioquia, a region with high economic-growth levels. It is expected to create 1000 direct jobs in the construction phase and around 300 jobs once operations begin.

Latin America: Cemex Latam Holdings, Cemex's Latin American subsidiary, has reported net consolidated sales of US$864m during the first half of 2014, representing a year-on-year rise of 6%. Company earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) fell year-on-year by 8% during the first six months of 2014, reaching US$283m, due to scheduled maintenance works. EBITDA levels are expected to improve during the second half of 2014. Cemex Latam Holdings recorded net profits of US$121.2m in January - June 2014, 14% down on the same period in 2013.