Displaying items by tag: Profit

Egypt: Private investor Sadiq Ahmed Sadiq El Sewedy has enlarged their stake in Arabian Cement to 11% from 9.5%. The investor paid US$1.6m for the additional shares. Al Ahly Pharos and EFG Hermes Holding provided brokerage services for the deal.

Arabian Cement recorded a profit of US$6.17m in the first half of 2022, compared to a US$1.2m loss in the first half of 2021.

China: West China Cement’s preliminary results indicate a profit drop of 40 – 45% year-on-year in the first half of 2022 to US$85.6 – 93.4m from US$156m. The group said that its finance costs rose by US$10.8m, while its foreign exchange gains were just US$4.05m in the half, compared to US$51.2m in the first half of 2021.

Egypt: Arabian Cement’s first-half sales were US$111m in 2022, up by 121% year-on-year from US$50.4m in the first half of 2021. The company recorded a profit of US$6.25m during the reporting period, compared to a loss of US$1.22m one year previously.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem recorded a net profit of Euro88.7m in the first half of 2022, down by 58% year-on-year from Euro210m in the first half of 2021. The group said that its recurring profitability worsened across its markets, with the exception of Russia. It also noted ‘substantial stability’ in the Czech Republic. Its consolidated sales, including those of its Brazilian and Mexican businesses, were US$2.41bn, up by 18% from US$2.05bn.

The group recorded cement sales volumes of 14.2Mt, down by 4.1% from 14.8Mt. Volumes fell by 27% in Eastern Europe and by 28% in Italy, but rose by 27% in Central Europe and by 8% in the US. Excluding Russia, the producer’s fuel costs per tonne of cement rose by 8.8% year-on-year to approximately Euro8.80, and its total energy costs rose by 20% year-on-year to Euro234m.

It implemented continued price rises across all markets except Mexico during the half, with the sharpest rises recorded in Italy and Ukraine.

India: UltraTech Cement increased its sales by 28% year-on-year to US$1.9bn in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, from US$1.48bn in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year. The company’s net profit during the quarter was US$198m, down by 7% year-on-year from US$213m in the first quarter of the 2022 financial year.

Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that UltraTech Cement recorded increased cement demand in June 2022 and forecasts full-year year-on-year consumption growth nationally. The producer said that state-backed investment in infrastructure and industrial development will support high housing demand momentum, while pressure will remain on its profitability due to high costs.

Egypt: Arabian Cement more than doubled its consolidated sales year-on-year to US$57.4m in the first quarter of 2022 from US$23.4m in the first quarter of 2021. During the quarter, the producer recorded a profit of US$3.19m, compared to a US$343,000 loss in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

Vietnam: Vicem Hoàng Mai Cement has announced a full-year sales target of US$79.2m for 2022, down by 1.5% year-on-year from 2021 levels. Its target net profit for the year is US$656,000, more than five times its 2020 figure. The company forecasts cement production of 1.73Mt, up by 11% from 1.56Mt, and clinker production of 1.4Mt, down by 4.1% from 1.46Mt, for the year. It plans to replace 30 – 40% of the natural gypsum currently used in cement production with synthetic gypsum. It will also increase the proportion of ash and slag in its raw materials mix.

The Chúng Khoán newspaper has reported that Vicem Hoàng Mai Cement said that it is experiencing increased costs due to high raw materials and fossil fuel prices. A coal shortage has also disrupted production.

India: Ratings agency Emkay Global has forecast an 11% year-on-year rise in UltraTech Cement’s second-quarter sales in the 2022 financial year to US$1.5bn from US$1.36bn. It expects the producer’s cement sales to rise by 6% in the period to 20.4Mt, and its net profit to grow by 6.4% to US$174m from US$163m.

The Economic Times newspaper has reported that Emkay Global predicted that UltraTech Cement’s costs will rise by 7% and that its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation per tonne of cement will fall by 5% year-on-year.

India: Rating agency ICRA has forecast that Indian cement production will rise by 12% year-on-year to 332Mt in 2022. It said that pent-up pre-Covid-19 lockdown demand, rural housing demand and a pickup in infrastructure activity would drive the rise. ICRA predicted that demand would rise by a further 8% year-on-year to 358Mt.

In the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, domestic rose by 44% year-on-year and by 2% compared to the first quarter of the 2020 financial year to 142Mt. ICRA estimated that the top 12 Indian cement producers will record their highest ever average operating profit per tonne of cementitious material in the 2022 financial year. It said that this is likely to occur due to an increase in net sales realisation and cost optimisation measures.

Azerbaijan: Holcim Azerbaijan recorded sales of US$59.2m in 2020, down by 16% year-on-year. Turan Information Agency News has reported that the producer’s net profit was US$24.5m, down by 23%. During the year, the company reduced its debt by 14% to US$67m from US$78m.