
Displaying items by tag: GCW47
Argos sees significant improvement in first quarter
30 April 2012Colombia: Colombia's Grupo Argos has announced that its consolidated net profit in the first quarter of 2012 was US$125m, a fourfold increase from that seen in the first quarter of 2011. The group said that it had seen a surge in growth in its most significant business areas, namely cement and electricity. The group, which has a 61% stake in Cementos Argos, said that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, were US$250m.
Lucky Cement to build plant in Iraq
27 April 2012Iraq: The board of directors of Pakistan's Lucky Cement Company has decided to set up a greenfield cement grinding plant with a production capacity of 0.87Mt/yr in Iraq under a joint venture. The board also decided to invest US$15m in the cement plant, which is estimated to cost US$30m as 50% share of its equity. The technical and financial evaluation of the proposed project has already been carried out.
Cemex loss narrows in first quarter of 2012
26 April 2012Mexico: Mexican cement giant Cemex has reported that sales growth in its operations in the United States, Central and South America and the Caribbean helped it to narrow its first-quarter loss in 2012.
"The favourable performance in most of our regions leads us to believe that we are in the initial stages of a turnaround," said Fernando Gonzalez, Cemex's executive vice president of finance and administration, who added that the quarter marked Cemex's sixth consecutive quarter of top-line growth.
Sales rose by 4% year-on-year in the January-March 2012 period to US$3.5bn. Higher sales in the US helped compensate for weaknesses in Mexico and Europe, although the US operations were still a drag on operating earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
Cemex said its operating EBITDA rose by 7% on the year to US$567m. On a like-to-like basis for its ongoing operations and adjusting for currency fluctuations, operating EBITDA increased by 10%.
Cemex's net loss for the quarter was US$26m, narrower than a loss of US$229m loss a year earlier.