Displaying items by tag: Results

Vietnam: Several Vietnamese cement producers have reported losses in the first half of 2024, attributing the downturn to reduced domestic demand and competitive pricing pressures, reports Vietnam Investment Review. Vicem But Son recorded losses of US$1.5m in the second quarter of 2024, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of losses, with a 2024 first half revenue figure of US$50m, down by 10%, and total losses reaching US$3.83m. Vicem Hai Van also continued its decline, with a 43% drop in second quarter revenue to just over US$4m and losses of US$396,000. Vicem leaders said that challenges arose due to a reduced demand following limited civil engineering projects and a stagnant real estate market.

Despite the sector's overall downturn, firms like Vicem Ha Tien and Chinfon have recorded profits, with Ha Tien posting US$141m in revenue and US$875,000 in profits, and Chinfon doubling its yearly profit to US$25,250. However, the outlook for the remainder of 2024 remains bleak, with anticipated difficulties in market recovery and increasing input costs. Acoording to Vicem, the cost of electricity will continue increasing, while the demand for cement is not anticipated to recover before the end of 2024.

Denmark: FLSmidth has reported a 23% decline in group revenue for the second quarter of 2024. Despite the decline, gross profit rose by 5% to US$233m from US$221m in the same period in 2023. The cement division experienced a revenue decrease of 32%, though it achieved an adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) margin of 9.6%.

Group CEO Mikko Keto said "Our performance in the first half of 2024 is testament to our continued strong progression across all our key transformation activities, with additional improvements in profitability. The largely stable cement market continues to provide good opportunities for our service business. Looking ahead, the resilience of our service-oriented business model, our continued focus on business simplification to ensure a cost-efficient operating model and our dedicated focus on strategy execution gives us great confidence that we are well on track to meet our long-term financial ambitions."

Votorantim Cimentos released its half-year results this week giving us the opportunity to assess how well some of the larger cement producers are doing so far 2024. The general picture from the western multinational cement companies has been one of sluggish sales in the first half of the year but respectable earnings. So, for example, both Holcim and CRH were reporting static sales or revenue but earnings increases of over 10%. Heidelberg Materials and Cemex noted similar situations.

Graph 1: Sales revenue for selected multinational cement producers in the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2023. Source: Company financial reports.

Holcim was keen to play up that its net sales actually rose on a local currency basis. However, its recurring earnings before interest and taxation definitely rose, by 12% year-on-year to €2.33bn. Net sales were down in both North America and Europe, the group’s main two regions, but earnings were strong in both. Sales revenue for cement and aggregates may have been down across the group but earnings were up sharply. No such luck for ready-mixed concrete though, with both sales and earnings down overall. Another trend to watch is that sales and earnings were both up in the group’s Solutions & Products division. This part of the business has been growing due to merger and acquisition activity, and it is nearly the group’s second largest division after Europe.

CRH reported similar things overall. However, it has been busy selling off its Europe-based lime business, finishing the acquisition of its new assets in Texas and buying a majority stake in Australia-based AdBri. Its Americas Materials Solutions division reported both increasing revenues and earnings in the second quarter of 2024, at least, and the acquisitions in Texas helped too. Revenue in its Europe Materials Solutions division fell by 5% on an organic basis and this was blamed on subdued markets in Western Europe and poor weather.

Heidelberg Materials had a tougher time of it in the first half of 2024, with revenue down by 5% to around €10bn. It attributed the falling revenue to decreasing sales volumes across all business lines. It described its second quarter as follows, “The pressure on volumes is largely attributable to prolonged weak activity in the construction industry and adverse weather conditions in individual core markets. Active cost and price management largely offset the impact.” For clinker and cement this was noticed prominently in Europe despite volumes increasing in North America and Asia-Pacific. However, its result from current operations rose slightly. One reason for this appeared to be a ‘significant’ fall in material costs including energy.

Similarly, Cemex’s net sales were flat but its operating earnings were positive. Drilling down between its main geographical markets revealed a strong market in Mexico, a stable one in the US and declines in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In the US Cemex apportioned falls in cement and ready-mix concrete sales volumes to “...difficult weather conditions, a softening residential sector, portfolio rationalisation, competitive dynamics in certain micro markets and timing of several large projects.” Operating earnings were also hit by higher maintenance costs. In its EMEA region the trend was downwards but this was due to volume declines in Western Europe and geopolitical issues in the Middle East.

Votorantim Cimentos’ net revenue and adjusted earnings were down slightly in the first half of 2024 stemming from softer results in North America and Brazil in the first quarter. Revenue in Brazil was flat for the half year after a better second quarter. Revenue in North America though was hit by a slowdown in demand although price rises staved off some of this. Meanwhile, the group’s Europe, Africa and Asia region reported higher revenue due to higher volumes in most places.

Finally, UltraTech Cement is the odd company out in this group. The size of its annual revenue earns it a place in the list but it is more like some of the large China-based cement companies because it mostly sticks to one territory: India in this case. Yet, its revenue rose by nearly 6% to €4.2bn in the first half of 2024, making it the best performer in this article’s grouping. Domestic sales volumes increased at a similar rate in the April - June 2024 quarter. Similar to Heidelberg Materials, UltraTech Cement also reported that its energy costs fell by 17% year-on-year mainly due to reduced fuel prices. Its profit didn’t grow by much especially but the company is racing against Adani Cement to build capacity. It added 8.7Mt/yr alone in the April - June 2024 period compared to 13.3Mt/yr in its entire 2024 financial year that ended in March 2024.

The picture from the companies covered above suggests that the US market may have cooled for some since 2023. Despite this the earnings have mostly held up and cement companies enthusiasm for the market remains high led by Holcim’s impending market spin-off. Europe has been mixed, with declines in the west and stronger markets towards the east. Energy costs have finally fallen following the market shock when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and this is helping earnings. That last point may be universal here given that it has affected both western multinationals and a large regional player such as UltraTech Cement. That’s it for now. In a future week Global Cement Weekly will take a look at how well the large China-based cement companies have done in so far in 2024.

UAE: Sharjah Cement and Industrial Development raised its sales by 12% year-on-year to US$92m, Reuters has reported. The producer recorded a profit of US$2.61m, compared with a loss of US$1.58m in the first half of 2023.

UAE: RAK White Cement’s revenues declined by 3% year-on-year to US$34.1m in the first half of 2024. Nonetheless, the company more than tripled its net profit, to US$5.3m.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos ended the second quarter of 2024 with global net revenue of US$1.3bn, up by 1% from 2023. The company recorded a net profit of US$2.8m, a 10% rise from the same period of 2023. In North America, revenue fell by 13% to US$403m, impacted by reduced demand, though this was partially offset by price increases and improved operational efficiency. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at US$112m, down from US$119m in 2023.

In Latin America, revenue grew by 2%, with Bolivia showing improved volumes. However, adjusted EBITDA dropped by 25% to US$5.3m, affected by tough market conditions in Uruguay and maintenance schedules. In Brazil, revenue was stable at US$586m, with adjusted EBITDA also stable at US$104m, supported by new business growth and cost improvements.

Osvaldo Ayres, global CEO of Votorantim Cimentos, said "At the end of the first half of the year, our results demonstrate the resilience and effectiveness of our diversification and capital allocation strategy. We remain focused on strengthening our structural competitiveness, advancing decarbonisation projects and new businesses, while maintaining our solid financial discipline. We stay on course with our investment plan, aligned with our global strategy and strategic mandate."

Colombia: Cementos Argos recorded revenues of US$329m in the second quarter of 2024, down 1% from the same period in 2023. The company’s quarterly earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was US$68.8m, while net profit reached US$31.2m. This net profit result includes the markets where it operates directly and the 31% stake it holds in Summit Materials in the US. According to the company, this result is explained "by the impact of seasonality in Summit's operations, which generate most of its net profit during the second and third quarters of the year."

Cementos Argos shipped 2.5Mt of cement across Colombia, Central America and the Caribbean in the second quarter of 2024, up 2%. However, in Colombia alone, volumes fell by 5% to 1.3Mt, despite rising exports. The company recorded a 14% rise in quarterly EBITDA to US$41.2m, with year-to-date EBITDA up by 11% to US$89.6m. In Central America and the Caribbean, Q2 2024 EBITDA was US$38m, a 13% year-on-year increase.

Cementos Argos expects improvements in Colombia's cement deliveries over the next 12 to 18 months due to stabilising new home sales, reduced mortgage rates, moderated inflation and improved housing subsidies.

US: CRH has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. Revenue was US$9.7bn, down by 1% year-on-year, net income was US$1.3bn, up by 8% year-on-year, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$2.3bn, up by 12%. CRH raised its 2024 financial year guidance, projecting net income increase to US$3.85bn from the previous figure of US$3.7bn and an adjusted EBITDA increase from US$6.82bn to US$7.02bn.

Albert Manifold, chief executive of CRH, said "We are pleased to report another period of further profit growth and margin expansion for CRH. Reflecting the strength of our financial performance, the positive underlying momentum in our business as well as the positive contribution from recent portfolio activity, we are raising our guidance and remain well positioned to deliver another record year in 2024."

Argentina: Loma Negra has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. Net sales were US$147m, down by 28% year-on-year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to US$51m, a 19% decrease from the second quarter of 2023. Net profit reached US$31.6m, up by 226% from US$9.7m in the same period in 2023, reportedly due to the ‘solid’ operational results and an improvement in the net total finance gain.

CEO Sergio Faifman said "We are glad to report another set of solid results. We are optimistic that this positive trend in the industry will consolidate, as July 2024’s dispatch figures already show significant improvement. Therefore, we have strong indications to expect further recovery in the second half of 2024."

Saudi Arabia: Eastern Province Cement Company raised its sales by 29% year-on-year to US$156m in the first half of 2024. Its net profit grew to US$34.1m, up by 20% year-on-year.