Displaying items by tag: Egypt

Egypt: Alexandria Portland Cement’s sales fell by 10% year-on-year to US$63.2m in the first half of 2020 from US$63.2m in the same period in 2019. Its net loss grew by 26% to US$13.2m from US$10.6m, according to Mubasher. The company is a subsidiary of Greece-based Titan Group.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim says that net sales in each of its five regions ‘returned to prior-year levels by the end of June 2020’ following the easing of coronavirus-related lockdowns. Its net sales fell by 10.8% year-on-year to Euro9.95bn in the first half of 2020 on a like-for-like basis due to the ‘severe’ impact of the lockdowns on construction sites in several of its main operating countries. It also blamed negative currency effects for an additional fall in sales. Its recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) dropped by 22% to Euro1.11bn. Its net debt decreased by 15.8% to Euro9.91bn from Euro11.8bn. Cement sales volumes fell by 13.1% to 87.2Mt, aggregates by 6% to 114Mt and ready-mix concrete (RMC) by 18.6% to 19.2Mm3.

Group chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said, “Our half-year results demonstrate the great resilience of our business. I’m encouraged by our team’s agility to weather the storm with the rapid execution of our ‘Health, Cost & Cash’ action plan, effectively driving cost savings ahead of expectations, improving net working capital and delivering record free cash flow.” He added, “The peak of the crisis is behind us. We expect a solid second half of the year based on June’s full recovery, the trend of our order book and upcoming government stimulus packages.”

By region the group noted the most severe coronavirus-related disruption in Asia-Pacific despite China delivering a full recovery and growing sales volumes by the end of the second quarter. In Europe lockdowns in the UK and France had a particular impact and it said that, “volumes suggest a V-shaped recovery in June 2020 for the majority of markets, except in the UK.” Significant impacts were noted in Ecuador, Colombia and El Salvador in Latin America. Sales volumes declined in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and South Africa in the group’s Middle East Africa region but Nigeria delivered a ‘resilient’ performance. Finally, North America was the groups best performing region with slight dips in cement and aggregate sales volumes but a rise in RMX and rising recurring EBIT. This was attributed to, “fast and effective cost management in the US.”

Greece: Titan Group says that cost savings, lower prices for solid fuels and price ‘resilience’ all helped to grow its earnings in the first half of 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) rose by 12% year-on-year to Euro137m from Euro122m in the same period in 2019. Its revenue remained stable at Euro786m in the first half of 2020. Cement sales volumes fell by 2% to 7.9Mt but ready-mix concrete increased by 1.3% to 2.64Mm³ and aggregates increased by 2.6% to 9.2Mt. Although coronavirus-related lockdowns were mostly blamed for falling cement sales volumes they were also affected lower exports from Greece and the lack of fly ash supply in the US. Its US and Eastern Mediterranean regions contributed the most to its performance, with strong starts to the year in Egypt and Turkey before as the pandemic mounted.

Egypt: Solomon Baumgartner Aviles, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Lafarge Egypt, says that cement demand fell by 6.5% year-on-year in the first half of 2020. In an interview with the Daily News Egypt newspaper he said that coronavirus has “strongly impacted the building materials sector” with the biggest effect on the individual construction market as people decided to save their money instead. He added that a government decision to halt licences for building, expanding, upgrading, amending, or supporting construction work for private housing in larger cities had also compounded the problem. Despite this he praised the government for supporting infrastructure projects, which are operating at full capacity.

Aviles also outlined how Lafarge Egypt has developed an integrated plan on Health, Cost and Cash to tackle the coronavirus crisis. So far it has donated over 80,000 masks and gloves, made 200L of antibacterial gel available, and supported public hospitals by refurbishing 460 ventilators.

Egypt: Austria-based Mondi Group subsidiary Mondi Paper Bags has announced its acquisition of two cement bag plants, the Helwan Cement bag plant and InterCement bag plant, with a combined capacity of 60m – 80m bags/yr. As a result, Mondi Paper Bags will now meet the bagging needs of both cement producers.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Claudio Fedalto said, “These collaborations will offer Helwan and InterCement access to our latest innovations, industry expertise and our strong plant network and customer service in the Middle East. Thanks to Mondi’s vertical integration, our partners will further benefit from our high quality kraft paper.”

Helwan Cement owner Suez Cement managing director Jose Maria Magrina said, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with a reputable and reliable global paper bags supplier like Mondi, while we can focus on our core operations, the production of grey cement and ready-mix.” InterCement subsidiary Amreyah Cement legal and administration director Paulo Dall’Aqua added, “Building sustainable partnerships is InterCement’s tagline, and it is exactly what this deal represents.”

Egypt: Suez Cement has recorded a loss of US$18.0m in the first three months of 2020, compared to a profit of US$11.0m in the first three months of 2019. Sales fell by 27% year-on-year to US$80.6m from US$110m in 2019. Domestic demand in relation to Egypt’s production overcapacity fell in March 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Daily News Egypt has reported that the second quarter 2020 results will carry greater losses for Suez Cement due to coronavirus lockdown measures and seasonal factors such as Ramadan, with cement volumes down by 27% year-on-year in May 2020.

France: 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.

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.

Egypt: The Ministry of Local Development has announced the start of a six-month period in which it will issue no construction licences for private buildings in Greater Cairo, governorate capitals and major cities from 27 May 2020. Egypt Today has reported that the suspension also affects licences for building modifications and extensions.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has ordered that mega-infrastructure projects should continue, subject to additional protective measures against the COVID-19 outbreak. Al-Sisi postponed the inauguration ceremonies for the newly constructed New Administrative Capital and Grand Egyptian Museum.

Egypt: Alexandria Portland Cement has reported a 54% year-on-year decrease in net losses to US$2.26m in the first quarter of 2020 from US$4.91m in the corresponding quarter of 2019.