Displaying items by tag: Results
Africa: Lafarge Africa Plc has reported a profit after tax of US$146m for the first nine months of 2015, compared with US$156m recorded in the corresponding of 2014.
The company said that Ashaka Cement's results were affected by unrest during the start of 2015 and that Ashaka Cement has since returned to normal operations. It added that industrial performance was strong, with stable plant operations across the board. The South African business continues to be cash generative. However, a volume slow down impacted the profit, with after tax profit from consolidated operations declining by 67% to US$17.6m in the third quarter of 2015. Lafarge Africa said that United Cement, which was included on an equity basis, brought the post tax profit to US$16.6m.
Lafarge Africa concluded the second tranche of the acquisition of Four Mills of Nigeria's 15% stake in Unicem. This brings Lafarge Africa's ownership stake in Unicem to 50%, while LafargeHolcim owns the remaining 50%. The acquisition has brought about an expansion in the Lafarge Africa scope in Nigeria.
"In spite of the challenging business environment and competitive situation, our company has delivered a good performance during the year. Our business expansion is remarkable and we are optimistic that our company will continue to deliver strong value to our shareholders," said the CEO of Lafarge Africa, Peter Hoddinott. According to him, Lafarge Africa will continue to leverage its strong brands, technological advantage and support from the global group. The expansion plans are on track, with Unicem's second line set to come on stream in 2016.
Ciments de Bizerte reports sales and production growth in the first nine months of 2015
26 October 2015Tunisia: Ciments de Bizerte's sales increased by 2.3% year-on-year to US$160,937 in the third quarter of 2015. Clinker production grew by 47.5% to 55,050t during the quarter.
Domestic sales in the first nine months of 2015 grew by 21.8% to US$3.64m. Total sales grew by 4.25% to US$832,581 due to falling exports, which was mainly due to fluctuation of the Algerian market and the virtual absence of demand from the Libyan market.
China: China Resources Cement's profit attributable to owners for the nine months that ended on 30 September 2015 fell by 60.6% year-on-year to US$165m. Sales fell by 15.5% year-on-year to US$2.55bn. The decline was mainly attributable to lower sales prices of cement and clinker. For the three months that ended on 30 September 2015, China Resources Cement reported a loss of US$32m, compared to the profit of US$155m for the same period of 2014.
Cemex reports 5% net sales growth in the third quarter of 2015
23 October 2015Mexico: Cemex's consolidated net sales reached US$3.7bn in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 5% on a like-for-like basis for the ongoing operations and adjusting for currency fluctuations, versus the comparable period in 2014. The increase was due to higher prices in local currency terms in most operations, as well as improved volumes in the US and Asia.
Its operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) during the quarter reached US$677m, an increase of 5% on a like-for-like basis versus the same period in 2014. The increase was mainly due to higher contributions from Mexico, the US, as well as from the Northern Europe and Asia regions. Operating earnings before other expenses, net, in the third quarter, decreased by 8% to US$439m. Controlling interest net loss narrowed to US$44m from a loss of US$106m in the same period of 2014.
"Our results reflect the unprecedented strength of the US Dollar versus the currencies in most of our markets, which intensified during the quarter. Despite this, we had favourable operating results. Our quarterly sales and operating EBITDA increased by 5% on a like-for-like basis. While EBITDA margin was relatively flat during the quarter, year-to-date EBITDA margin was the highest since 2009. Our free cash flow after maintenance capital expenditure also increased by 25% during the quarter," said Fernando A Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased with the results so far of our 'Value-Before-Volume' strategy. Our year-to-date increase in consolidated prices, adjusted for the impact of our variable costs and freight rate increases, has offset slightly more than half of the effect of foreign-exchange fluctuations."
Vietnam: Sai Son Cement JSC made a US$29,030 net profit in the third quarter of 2015, down from US$323,064 in the same period of 2014 due to a fall in revenue and higher costs of goods sold. Its net revenue fell to US$3.22m in the third quarter from US$3.49m in the 2014 quarter. Gross profit fell to US$296,142 from US$708,946 in 2014.
In the first nine months of 2015, Sai Son Cement made US$206,402 of net profit on US$10.5m net revenue, compared to US$690,998 of net profit on US$10.1m net revenue in the same period of 2014.
ACC’s third quarter 2015 net profit down by 40%
21 October 2015India: ACC has reported a 40% drop in its consolidated net profit to US$17.7m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015 as it was hit by a sales decline and subdued prices. It had posted a net profit of US$29.5m during the same period of 2014.
ACC's total consolidated income fell marginally to US$428m in the July - September 2015 quarter from US$432m in the same period of 2014. Its total expenses grew to US$405m from US$395m in the 2014 quarter. ACC said that cement sales were poor during the July - September 2015 quarter and added that the pace of India's economic revival has been slower than expected. ACC's cement sales fell to 5.61Mt from 5.62Mt in the same period of 2014.
"With subdued construction activity in most of the monsoon season, the industry witnessed weak off-take of cement in the quarter. As a result, our cement volumes were correspondingly flat. Selling prices were subdued," said ACC. While sales here was almost flat, there was improvement in input and energy costs.
Vietnam: Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) sold 16.3Mt of cement and clinker in the first nine months of 2015, up by 1.5% year-on-year. Of the volume, 14.9Mt of cement and clinker was sold on the domestic market, up by 8.6% year-on-year, while 1.44Mt was exported, down by 39.4% year-on-year.
In the third quarter of 2015, Vicem's cement and clinker sales grew by 6.2% to 5.61Mt, of which 5.27Mt of cement and clinker was sold on the domestic market, up by 11% year-on-year, while 337,000t was exported, down by 37% year-on-year. Vicem's cement production grew by 10% year-on-year to 4.97Mt in the third quarter of 2015, while its clinker output rose by 8% to 4.34Mt.
Vicem plans to produce 4.42Mt of clinker and 5.45Mt of cement in the fourth quarter of 2015, down by 0.8% and 5.7% respectively year-on-year. It also aims to sell 6.07Mt of cement in the fourth quarter, raising its full-year target to 22.4Mt. In 2014, Vicem's clinker production grew by 0.7% to 16.5Mt while its cement output rose by 10.3% to 18.5Mt.
Dalmia Bharat Cement enters Karnataka to boost sales in south
20 October 2015India: Dalmia Bharat Cement expects to improve its share of cement sales from south India by entering the Karnataka market.
"As we enter the lucrative Karnataka market, we expect to do well. The southern region has already witnessed 1.2% growth over the last year compared to the industry's country-wide sales growth of around 5%," said Mahendra Singhi, Dalmia Bharat Cement's CEO.
Dalmia Bharat Cement has commenced operations at its US$200m, 2.5Mt/yr greenfield cement plant in Belgaum and launched its 'superior grade cement' in the Karnataka market. Karnataka accounts for 5% of the total Indian cement market. "The company has engaged 300 dealers in the region, who will be supported with end-to-end marketing, technical and logistics support," said Singhi.
The plant in Karnataka is Dalmia Bharat Cement's 11th manufacturing plant in the country, making it the third-largest cement group in India with 24Mt/yr capacity. "We have a strong market presence in super-specialty cements used for oil wells, railway sleepers and air strips and are the country's largest producer of slag cement," said Singhi.
Orient Cement’s net profit falls by 35%
20 October 2015India: CK Birla's Orient Cement has reported a 35.4% year-on-year decline in its net profit to US$4.32m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015 due to lower income and higher expenses and finance costs.
Orient Cement's net sales fell to US$54.7m in the quarter compared to US$59.2m in the same quarter of its previous fiscal year. The company's total expenditure rose to US$51m from US$49m in the same period of 2014.
As part of the growth plan to reach 15Mt/yr capacity by 2020, Orient Cement is setting up a 3Mt/yr capacity plant in Chittapur, Gulbarga for US$308m.
UltraTech Cement’s second quarter net profit up by 3%
20 October 2015India: Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement has reported 3% year-on-year growth in its consolidated net profit at US$65.8m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, helped by increased sales and better operating margins.
UltraTech Cement's total income rose by 4% to US$927m in the quarter. Its domestic cement sales volume increased by 5% year-on-year. While operating costs were lower due to lower energy costs, the benefit was partially offset due to the District Mineral Foundation levy in terms of provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development) Amendment Act, 2015.
UltraTech said that its capital expenditure programme is on track. During the quarter, it commissioned a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant in Jhajjar, Haryana and a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant in Dankuni, West Bengal. "As a result, the cement capacity is enhanced to 64.7Mt/yr in India. The company also commissioned a 2Mt/yr bulk terminal on outskirts of Pune. With the further commissioning of a 5MW waste heat recovery system in Rawan, Chhattisgarh, power generation from waste heat recovery is augmented to 53MW," said the company in a statement.
UltraTech Cement expects cement demand to pick up in the October 2015 – March 2016 period. "With the governments' focus on infrastructure development, housing sector, smart cities and roads, among others, UltraTech Cement is well positioned across the country to meet the expected rise in demand and participate in the next phase of growth in the country," said UltraTech Cement.