Displaying items by tag: Results

Ireland: CRH’s sales rose by 3% year-on-year to Euro19.9bn in the first nine months of 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 2% on a like-for-like basis to Euro2.5bn. The building materials producer said that its earnings had been supported by growth in the Americas despite poor weather. It added that ‘momentum’ remained positive in Europe and demand had improved in Asia. However, its EBITDA dropped by 44% in Asia.

By region the group reported falling cement sales volumes in the UK and Ukraine. Sales volumes rose in most other European territories, with particular growth in Hungary, Germany, Poland, Serbia and Switzerland. In the US it said that its newly acquired Ash Grove Cement assets and ones in Florida had performed in line with expectations. However, sales in Canada fell due to poor weather. Sales in the Philippines rose by 3% due to rising cement sales volumes and prices following growing demand. However, here earnings were hit by higher fuel and power costs.

New Zealand: Fletcher Building says that its Golden Bay Cement plant in Auckland was forced stop its cement mill for four weeks in September 2018. It said it had insurance to cover this but that its earnings for its 2019 financial year are likely to be impacted by up to US$8m. Generally, the building materials producer reported that, until the end of October 2018, its business in New Zealand had been flat. In Australia it is facing ‘challenging’ conditions with growing input prices and a slowing residential sector.

Kenya: Edward Ouko, the Auditor-General, has described the East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) as insolvent because it cannot pay its debts. The cement producer made an operating loss of US$34m in its financial year that ended on 30 June 2018, according to the Standard newspaper. Its revenue fell by 25% year-on-year to US$50m. The company said it devised a new strategy to focus distribution on it own depots and to compete on pricing to counteract a lack of distribution of its products in common retail stores.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement’s loss has grown to US$16.2m in the first half of 2018 compared to US$9.6m in the same period in 2017. The cement producer has managed to increase its revenue but mounting operating costs have outpaced this, according to African Manager. Its turnover grew by 25.6% year-on-year to US$32.9m but operating expenses rose by 38.5% to US$47.6m. A dispute between management and staff also led to a production suspension in the first half of 2018.

A majority stake in the cement producer remains on sale following a call for expressions of interest in early 2018. The latest round of bidding is open until early December 2018.

UAE: National Cement Company’s profit fell by 5.8% to US$12.1m in the first nine months of 2018 from US$12.9m in the same period in 2017. This was accompanied by a marked increase in administration, selling and distribution costs. Despite this, its revenue rose by 7.6% to US$55m from US$41.8m.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement’s income fell slightly to US$250m in the first half of its financial year to 30 September 2018, from US$251m in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 13% to US$29.4m from US433.7m It has blamed the fall in its profitability on rising petcoke and diesel prices.

In its half-year report it added that work on a 20MW power plant at its Durg cement plant is expected to be completed by the end of March 2019. A cement grinding plant in Orissa is also expected to be finished from the start of 2019.

Colombia: Falling sales at home have reduced Cementos Argos’ sales so far in 2018. Its revenue decreased by 1.8% year-on-year to US$1.99bn in the first nine months of 2018 from US$2.03bn in the same period in 2017. Its sales volumes of cement declined slightly to 12.1Mt. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6.1% to US$355m from US$330m.

“It´s been a year full of challenges and opportunities in which we have been focused on the strengthening of our value proposition, looking forward to be a strategic ally for our clients´ projects; improving the competitiveness of our operations through the execution of BEST, ensuring we have the financial flexibility to mitigate market risks, taking advantage of growth opportunities and becoming a leaner, more innovative and sustainable company for the years to come,” said Juan Esteban Calle, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cementos Argos.

By region, revenue fell by a little in the US and cement sales volumes remained stable. This was blamed, in part, on the negative effects of Hurricane Florence on its market in the Carolinas in the third quarter and on falling prices. Revenue and sales volumes were down in Colombia due to a poor market although this started to recover in the third quarter, notably with improving earnings. In the Caribbean and Central America region its revenue and sales volumes increased, lead by growth in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Eastern Caribbean. Despite this, EBITDA margin fell due to decreased despatches in Honduras and Panama.

South Africa: Sephaku Holding’s revenue rose by 5% to US$32.1m in the six months to 30 September 2018 from US$30.7m in the same period in 2017. Its profit nearly doubled to US$1.8m. The subsidiary of Nigeria’s Dangote Cement said that cement prices had increased in most markets. It added that competition from cement importers and grinding plants had placed pressure on its cement sales volumes in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province in the latest quarter.

Philippines: Eagle Cement’s sales grew by 9% year-on-year to US$229m for the first nine months of 2018. It attributed the growth to rising cement demand in the country due to government infrastructure project, according to the Philippine Star. Its income grew by 6% to US$65.8m. The company is planning to upgrade the grinding capacity of its plant in Bulacan in 2019.

Italy: Cementir’s sales and earnings have benefited from new assets in the US as well as good performance in Belgium and China. Its sales revenue rose by 4.8% year-on-year to Euro893m in the first nine months of 2018 from Euro852m in the same period in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 5.2% to Euro163m from Euro155m. Its cement sales volumes fell by 1.8% to 7.52Mt from 7.66Mt. However, these figures take into account the company’s sale of its Italian operations.

Francesco Caltagirone Jr, chairman and chief executive officer, said, “In the first nine months of 2018 the EBITDA benefited on the one hand from the contribution of the US by Euro12.3m and from the improvement in Belgium and China, on the other it suffered the deterioration of earnings in Egypt due to the curfew introduced in February 2018 and the resulting stop of all transport activities until May 2018, in Norway due to bad weather in the first quarter, and in Turkey due to the economic and currency crisis getting worse in the month of August.”

In March 2018 the company purchased a controlling stake in Lehigh White Cement in the US from HeidlebergCement. It operates the company with Cemex as a junior partner. In October 2018 Cementir, through its subsidiaries, acquired an additional stake in Egypt’s Sinai White Cement increasing its share to 71.1% from 66.4% for Euro3.8m.