Displaying items by tag: Results
JK Lakshmi Cement posts US$2.27m net loss for the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year
06 November 2015India: JK Lakshmi Cement has posted a standalone net loss of US$2.27m for the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 September 2015, down from US$4.66m in the same period of its 2015 fiscal year, due to an additional burden of interest and depreciation cost on commissioning of the new Durg cement plant. Its standalone income rose by 13% year-on-year to US$98.2m during the quarter. The company said that its sales volume and prices were both impacted by subdued market conditions.
Qatar National Cement profit slightly up
05 November 2015Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has reported that its profit for the nine months ending on 30 September 2015 was US$98.6m, compared to US$91.2m in the same period of 2014. This represents a year-on-year rise of 8.1%. Revenue for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$233m, compared to US$212m for the nine months to 30 September 2014, a rise of 9% year-on-year.
The company's gross profit for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$96.2m, compared to US$93m for the same period of 2014. QNCC's other income for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$10.8m, compared to US$6.5m for the same period of 2014.
Tricky times in India
04 November 2015The past week has seen several quarterly financial results from producers in the world's second-largest cement industry: India. So far, they do not make for a great read from an economic perspective, although some players, including Birla Group and Sanghi Cement are yet to show their hands.
So let's kick off. For the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, LafargeHolcim subsidiary Ambuja Cements saw its net profit slide by 36% year-on-year to US$23.6m compared to the same period of 2014. Its income fell by 4% to US$324m as it battled a one-off charge. ACC, LafargeHolcim's other Indian subsidiary, saw a profit of US$17.5m for the quarter, a year-on-year fall of 40% compared to 2014. Not great for the global number one player.
Other players to announce so far have included JK Cements, which reported a 58% fall in consolidated net profit to US$2.1m. Meanwhile, Century Textiles, which owns Century Cement, fared even worse. It actually posted a loss compared to a marginal profit in 2014, despite an increase in total income.
It has not been all doom and gloom however. UltraTech Cement, while it reported a drop in profit, was not as badly affected as the firms listed above. It recorded a 3.9% fall to a net profit of US$59.7m for the quarter, down from US$62.3m in the same period of 2014. This was reported as being better than expected according to a senior research analyst at Angel Broking, perhaps hinting at shaky ground under even these results.
So far, the exception to the lower profits and losses has been India Cements Ltd (ICL), which posted an almost five-fold growth in its net profit. It profit grew from US$1.14m to US$6.26m, which it said stemmed mainly from improved operating parameters and substantial reductions in its variable costs. Its operating profit grew to US$35.4m from US$27.9m. It expects performance to improve as it increases its capacity utilisation rate up, currently languishing at just 60%.
Does the company provide a model for other producers to follow? Perhaps. The company's managing director and vice-chairman of ICL, N Srinivasan, said that the company was poised for improved conditions in its markets. In the company's results he said, "Going forward, we see better times ahead. We had a tough time for two years and have achieved a turnaround by cutting costs and maintaining a healthy cement price." The fact that ICL has managed to 'maintain a healthy cement price' in times of low requires scrutiny in a separate column.
However, a possible take-away from the results released so far is that the larger producers seem to have greater immunity to the problems surrounding over-supply in India. Economies-of-scale and the ability to spread risk around different Indian markets tends to favour larger players like UltraTech. Conversely, a smaller player that finds itself 'stuck' in one of the weaker regional markets, must just sit tight and weather the storm. Either that or it can make itself into a strategic acquisition target for one of the larger groups.
We are still awaiting results from other players in the Indian market, but with low demand, it would be foolish to expect them to be significantly different from the above. Given this, two key factors will help determine whether the decline in profits continues or not. Firstly, India's Modi government is promising large-scale infrastructure projects, which would help boost demand for cement. The industry has heard such promises in the past, however, and may chose to be skeptical. Secondly, it is important to remember that lower profits are being seen at the moment, even despite lower coal costs. Any upward change in these costs and the pace may become too fast for some of the country's smaller producers.
Vicat’s sales up by 1.9% in the first nine months of 2015
04 November 2015France: Vicat's sales in the first nine months of 2015 grew by 1.9% year-on-year to Euro1.88bn. In the third quarter of 2015, its sales grew by 1.7% to Euro640m on a reported basis and declined by 3.7% at constant scope and exchange rates. Vicat reported robust business trends in the US, activity growth in Asia underpinned by Turkey and India, a reduced down-trend in France and lower activity in West Africa and the Middle East.
"Vicat's third-quarter performance still reflects a contrasting picture from one region to another, but there were signs of improvement in certain markets," said Vicat's Chairman and CEO. "Strong increases were recorded in the US and Turkey, while volumes in India returned to growth in a still favourable pricing environment, and, lastly, our production unit in Kazakhstan ran at full capacity in a market nevertheless affected by a strong currency devaluation. In France, the shortfall compared with 2014 declined significantly in the cement business over the past quarter and the market currently appears to be gradually stabilising at an historically low level for French cement consumption. Against this backdrop, Vicat remains focused on its objectives of maximising its cash flow and reducing its debt, while leveraging the efficiency of its manufacturing facilities, its geographical diversification and its strong positions in its local markets."
Russia: Sibirsky Cement's cement plants produced about 3.15Mt of cement in the first nine months of 2015, down by 10% year-on-year. The Topki Cement plant produced 2.27Mt of products, a 6% year-on-year fall, Kransoyarsk Cement produced 621,100t, down 14% year-on-year, while Timlyui Cement made 261,900t, a 28% decline.
Prism Cement’s net loss grew to US$5.08m in the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year
04 November 2015India: Prism Cement's standalone net loss widened to US$5.08m for the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 September 2015, compared to a net loss of US$3.02m in the same period of 2014. During the period, its net sales grew by 4.56% to US$213m. Prism Cement sold 1.35Mt of cement and clinker compared to 1.29Mt during the same quarter of its 2015 fiscal year.
Prism Cement said that the short term scenario remains 'challenging,' however, government initiatives such as housing, 'smart cities' and the push to infrastructure aided by a stable inflation and rate cut bodes well for the medium and long term economic outlook.
Suez Cement reports 18% revenue fall in the third quarter of 2015
03 November 2015Egypt: Suez Cement Group has reported that a much improved energy availability, driven by coal utilisation and a more steady supply of the heavy fuel oil known as mazut, has allowed the Egyptian cement industry to boost its production by 29% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2015 and 23% in the first nine months of 2015.
During the third quarter of 2015, market demand grew by 2.1%, while cement demand grew by 1.6% in the first nine months of 2015. Combined with a steep reduction in exports, this resulted in a marked oversupply of cement products in the domestic market, causing prices to decline. This trend was exacerbated in the third quarter of 2015 with a market demand slowed down by an unfavourable calendar and strong production activity in contrast with summer 2014, when energy supply was at its lowest. Simultaneously, traditional energy prices grew by around 30% with the implementation by the government of the subsidy lifting programme. Suez Cement was able to maintain its market leadership, but saw its sales volumes decline slightly as it tried to defend its pricing. Exports to regional markets, such as Libya and Yemen, remained limited because of political and economic instability.
Suez Cement reported an 18% decrease in revenues for the third quarter of 2015 and a 12% fall for the first nine months of the year. The company continued to implement its action plans to improve internal efficiencies and modify its energy mix, with two plants now fully converted to use coal and waste-derived fuel. The resulting cost improvement was insufficient to offset the impact from pricing, energy price and cost of labour increases.
Suez Cement expects Egypt's supply-demand imbalance and lower cement prices to remain negative for the rest of 2015. However, it foresees improved cement demand and rebounding prices in 2016. Egypt will move forward with the implementation of several large national projects under the auspices of government stimulation initiatives designed to boost demand for cement across the country.
Suez Cement is currently preparing for the implementation of coal conversion projects at the Helwan and Tourah plants in the next two years. The company's energy diversification programme is focused on increasing the use of waste-derived fuels, petroleum coke, coal and renewable energy in order to prevent fluctuating natural gas and mazut prices from negatively impacting the company's bottom line. Suez Cement anticipates that its energy programme will continue to improve its manufacturing capacity and decrease operational and production overheads.
The India Cements’ net profit grew almost five-fold in the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year
03 November 2015India: The India Cements Limited (ICL) has posted a nearly five-fold growth in its net profit for the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 September 2015.
Its net profit grew from US$1.14m to US$6.26m in the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year. Growth mainly stemmed from improved operating parameters and substantial reductions in variable costs. Its operating profit grew to US$35.4m from US$27.9m. Cement capacity utilisation was at 60% and is expected to rise.
According to Managing Director and Vice-Chairman of ICL, N Srinivasan, the last three quarters have seen the company posting consistent profits, a development that Srinivasan said had resulted in the company seeing better times ahead. "We have remained on the profit track for three consecutive quarters. Going forward, we see better times ahead. We had a tough time for two years and have achieved a turnaround by cutting costs and maintaining a healthy cement price," said Srinivasan. "With expected the increase in cement demand in the southern states and Andhra Pradesh building its new capital city Amaravati, we hope that the company will do well in the coming years."
Fauji Cement posts profits of US$5.71m
02 November 2015Pakistan: Fauji Cement Company Limited's profit rose from US$5.71m to US$10.5m in the third quarter of 2015, which ended on 30 September 2015. Company revenue grew by 4.9% year-on-year to US$41.6m as local dispatches remained strong and prices remained intact.
"The result outperformed the market forecast for the quarter on the back of lower-than-anticipated cost of goods sold and financial charges," said Faizan Ahmed. "Resultantly, gross profits grew by 41% to US$18m. In addition, financial charges declined by 40% to US$1.88m due to deleveraging and monetary easing."
India: JK Cements has reported a 58% fall in its consolidated net profit to US$2.09m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015. However, its total standalone income rose by 5% to US$133m. The company's total expenses grew to US$122m from US$11.7m.