Displaying items by tag: Q4

Denmark: The board of Danish cement plant producer FLSmidth has released financial results for the three months to 31 December 2011, which show that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 57% to Euro133m compared to Euro89.1m in the final quarter of 2010. The company recorded a revenue of Euro979m, up by 32% year-on-year from Euro742m. Its order intake also increased by 32% to Euro787m for the quarter compared to Euro595m.

For the whole of 2011 the group's revenue increased by 9% to Euro2.95bn and its EBITDA increased by 11% to Euro356m. Its net profit was up by 12% to Euro193m compared to Euro180m in 2010.

FLSmidth said that its cement sector remained solid despite a difficult market. In 2012 the company expects a consolidated revenue of Euro3.2-3.5bn exclusive of acquisitions. In the cement sector it expects a slight increase in revenue over 2011's Euro592m.

France: Lafarge has posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 due to higher prices of its raw materials and energy, negative currency swings and a write-off of Euro285m on assets, mainly in Greece.

Lafarge posted a Euro3m net loss for the quarter ending 31 December 2011 compared with a net profit of Euro62m for the same period in 2010. Sales rose 5% in the same period to Euro3.81bn from Euro3.63bn a year earlier.

Overall for the full year in 2011 Lafarge posted a net income of Euro593m, a drop of 28% compared to Euro827m in 2010. The income drop occurs in the same year when Lafarge sold its gypsum assets, generating a net gain of Euro266m. Sales rose 3% for the year to Euro15.3bn from Euro14.8bn in 2010. The company achieved its target to reduce net debt by Euro2bn, taking the figure down from Euro14bn in 2010 to Euro12bn in 2011.

Cement sales were driven by emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. In these regions sales increased by 6% to Euro7.69bn in 2011 from Euro7.16bn in 2010. This represents more than two-third of cement sales for the company.

Yearly sales in Asia grew by 3% to Euro2.1bn in 2011, despite the depreciation of most of the Asian currencies against the Euro. Notably in the fourth quarter sales increased by 15% in Central and Eastern Europe, rising to Euro220m in 2011 from Euro192m in the same period in 2010. This was attributed to improved market situations in Russia and Poland and overall mild winter weather conditions.

Mature markets experienced contrasted trends, with volume growth in Canada, UK and France, stable volumes in the United States, and Greece and Spain still impacted by the difficult economic environment.

Lafarge expects that costs of raw materials will rise at a slower pace in 2012 than in 2011 and sees demand for cement rising between 1% and 4%. It also expects it will be able to raise its prices as demand for cement increases, mainly in emerging markets. Lafarge expects to further reduce its debt thanks to cost-cutting plans and further divestments of more than Euro1bn in 2012.

France: Ciments Français, part of the Italcementi Group, has announced its consolidated revenues and sales results for the year ending 31 December 2011. These show that, in a difficult economic environment, group sales decreased marginally in its cement sector. Cement and clinker sales were down by 1.4% year-on-year to 42.4Mt in 2011 but sales increased in France, North America, India and Morocco.

In western Europe the company sold 9.9Mt of cement and clinker, an increase of 1.3% year-on-year. In North America it sold 4.2Mt, a 5.1% improvement on 2010. In 'emerging' Europe, north Africa and the Middle East it sold 16.1Mt of cement and clinker, 5.4% less than in 2010. In Asia the company sold 11.1Mt, up by 0.3% compared to 2010.

In the fourth quarter of 2011 Ciments Français' sales were down by 1.7% year-on-year at 10.2Mt. The group sold 2.2Mt of cement and clinker in western Europe (+0.7% year-on-year), 1.1Mt in North America (+7.4%), 4.0Mt in emerging Europe, north Africa and the Middle East (-3.0%) and 2.6Mt in Asia (-5.0%) during the final quarter. Sales in Thailand took a large hit due to the severe flooding there in late 2011.

The group's total consolidated revenues for 2011 across all of its business units came in at Euro3.89bn, which it attributed to reduced volumes and currency fluctuation effects in some countries, notably Egypt, North America and India. Revenues improved in France, Belgium and Thailand.

Its cement segment took in Euro2.59bn, a drop of nearly 8% compared to 2010. Sales were highest in western Europe (Euro1.27bn), followed by emerging Europe, north Africa and the Middle East (Euro1.03bn), Asia (Euro499.5m) and North America (Euro405.1m).

Mexico: Cemex has reported rises in its net sales for both the fourth quarter of 2011 and the full year. Geographically this increase for the fourth quarter was due to higher volume and prices in local-currency terms in the United States, northern Europe and Latin America regions. Sales were flat in Mexico, the Mediterranean region and Asia.

For the group as a whole consolidated net sales increased by 6% during the fourth quarter of 2011 to approximately US$3.7bn and increased by 8% for the full year to US$15.1bn versus the comparable periods in 2010. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 13% during the fourth quarter of 2011 to US$542m and increased by 1% for the full year to US$2.3bn versus 2010. The infrastructure and residential sectors were the main drivers of demand in most of its markets.

Fernando A Gonzalez, Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, said, "This is the fifth consecutive quarter of top-line growth in our results. We are particularly pleased with the quarterly performance of our operations in northern Europe; the South, Central America and Caribbean region; and the United States. Regarding our full-year results, we saw net sales and operating EBITDA growing for the first time in four years."

Net sales in the company's operations in Mexico decreased 9% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to US$818m, compared with US$902m in the fourth quarter of 2010. Operating EBITDA increased by 7% to US$307m versus the same period of 2010.

Cemex's operations in the United States reported net sales of US$682m in the fourth quarter of 2011, up by 19% from the same period in 2010. In northern Europe, net sales increased by 16% to US$1.1bn, compared with US$950m in the fourth quarter of 2010. In the Mediterranean region sales were US$385m, 14% lower versus those in the comparable period of 2010. South, Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales were US$447m during the fourth quarter of 2011, representing an increase of 22% over the same period of 2010.

In Asia net sales were flat reaching US$124m.

Peru: Cementos Lima, the largest cement producer in Peru, has posted earnings of US$16m for the fourth quarter of 2011, ending on 31 December 2011. This represents a drop of 9% compared to US$18m for the same period in 2010.

For the full year Cementos Lima said it had earnings of US$79m in 2011 compared with US$75m in 2010. Total fourth quarter revenue remained static with US$104m in 2011 compared to US$104m in 2010.

The company said that cement production in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 0.84Mt down by 2.6% compared to the same quarter in 2010. The company said that the decline was due to lower demand in domestic and international markets.