Displaying items by tag: Results
Italy: Italcementi aims for 10% of its sales to be covered by innovative products in 2020, compared with 6.5% in 2014 and 1.5% in 2005, CEO Carlo Pesenti said during the conference for the presentation of biodynamic cement, which was used for the construction of the Expo 2015 building.
ARM Cement’s clinker plant will boost margins
14 September 2015Kenya: Kenya's ARM Cement expects profitability to improve now that it produces its own clinker for its east African cement plants, according to managing director Pradeep Paunrana.
Reuters reported that ARM Cement posted a pre-tax loss of US$4.5m in the first six months of 2015, which the company blamed on unrealised foreign exchange losses associated with borrowing for its new clinker plant, a vital raw material for cement.
Paunrana said that the new 1.2Mt/yr clinker plant was operating at about 75% capacity since production began in April 2015. "What this essentially means is that our production cost has come down drastically because imported clinker is much more expensive, at least 70 or 80% more expensive than what we are producing locally," said Paunrana. "So we expect improvement in our margins both in Kenya and in Tanzania with the production of our own clinker." He added that ARM was also selling clinker to other companies in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.
ARM's operating margin was 13.4% in 2014 according to Thomson Reuters data, compared with an industry median of 15.5%. ARM's Tanzanian plant has 1.5Mt/yr of cement production capacity, while its Kenyan plant can produce 1Mt/yr and its plant in Rwanda can make 100,000t/yr.
Paunrana said that he expected an improved financial performance in the second half of 2015, citing the 9% rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first half to US$18.4m. "The company is still very profitable, especially now that we have more clinker production and more volume growth," said Paunrana. He added that earnings in foreign exchange were rising and that ARM now had an advantage over some rivals. "We are keeping our margins steady and are now becoming a lot more competitive against those who import either clinker or finished cement."
Asia Cement expects loss in 2015
14 September 2015China: Asia Cement said it expects to record a net loss for the nine months that end on 30 September 2015 compared to a net profit for the same period in 2014. The loss in first three quarters of 2015 was primarily attributed to the decrease in average sales prices and the foreign exchange loss from US Dollar-denominated bank borrowings as a result of the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan.
Maple Leaf Cement posts US$33.6m profit
11 September 2015Pakistan: Higher volumetric sales and lower coal prices helped Maple Leaf Cement beat market expectations as the company boosted its profits by 22% to US$33.6m during its 2015 financial year that ended on 30 June 2015.
Maple Leaf Cement's revenue grew by 9.2% year-on-year to US$199m. The growth in earnings was due to higher dispatches and expansion in margins. Monetary easing and deleveraging helped ease Maple Leaf Cement's finance cost, which was US$9.59m, down by 26% from US$14.4m in its 2014 financial year. The company has announced a plan to invest US$47.9m in Maple Leaf Power Limited to set up a 40MW coal-fired power plant.
Lucky Cement reports US$119m net profit for 2015
09 September 2015Pakistan: Lucky Cement has reported a net profit of US$119m for the year that ended on 30 June 2015, some 9.6% higher than in the prior year. On a consolidated basis, Lucky Cement's net profit grew by 15.7% to US$132m for the year that ended on 30 June 2015.
Its net sales revenue improved by 3.9% to US$429m. The increase in net sales revenue was attributed mainly to an increase in sales volumes. Local sales volumes grew by 7% to 4.42Mt, while export sales fell by 4.5% to 2.37Mt.
Lucky Cement has also reported progress on its key foreign and local projects, including its integrated cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a 660MW supercritical coal-based power project, a 50MW wind farm, the electricity supply to PESCO and a waste heat recovery project at PEZU power plant.
Holcim Liban net profits down 78% in first half of 2015
08 September 2015Lebanon: Holcim Liban has reported US$2m of unaudited net profits in the first half of 2015, a decrease of 78.3% from net earnings of US$9.4m in the same period of 2014. The company's sales fell by 28.5% year-on-year to US$66.7m in the first half of 2015. Its gross profits margin reached 28% compared to 30.7% in the first half of 2014. Holcim Liban's assets fell by 3% year-on-year to US$275m at the end of June 2015
Ras Al Khaimah Cement reports lower first half profit
07 September 2015UAE: Ras Al Khaimah Cement Company has reported a decline in its net profit for the first half of 2015 to US$0.67m from US$0.86m in the same period of 2014.
Bamburi Cement profit up 94% in first half
28 August 2015Kenya: Bamburi Cement has reported a 94% jump in its pre-tax profit for the first half of 2015 to US$43m compared to the first half of 2014. Turnover grew to US$186m from US$166m, as governments and others continued to invest in infrastructure projects.
The company attributed the strong performance to growth in demand in its two main markets of Uganda and Kenya, cost cutting and gains in its US-Dollar-based liquid assets due to a steep weakening of the Ugandan and Kenyan currencies. Exports to other African markets were also strong.
"The outlook for the rest of 2015 is stable, with projected and continued positive growth in all regional East African economies," said Bamburi in a statement.
Cherat Cement revenue up but profit down
28 August 2015Pakistan: Cherat Cement Company posted a profit of US$12.4m in the year ending 30 June 2015, a slight decrease from US$12.7m a year earlier. Turnover rose to US$63.2m compared to US$62.1m a year ago.
Cementos Argos helped by rising capacity, better conditions and exchange rate effects in first half
27 August 2015Colombia: In the first half of 2015, Cementos Argos recorded revenues of US$1.09bn, 26% more than in the same period in 2014. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$210m, 31% higher than during the first half of 2014.The company sold 14% more cement in the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2014, with sales rising to 6.8Mt.
Jorge Mario Velásquez, Cementos Argos' CEO, said, "The consolidated results of the first half of the year show the good individual performance of our business segments and of our growth and market diversification strategy. Thanks to this, Argos is now recording more than 60% of its revenues in US Dollars or currencies closely tied to the US Dollar, which is a situation that puts us in a privileged position given the current circumstances."
In Colombia, Cementos Argos obtained revenues of US$403m, 13% more than in the first half of 2014. During the quarter, the expansion of the Rioclaro Plant became operational, adding 0.9Mt of installed capacity. Its EBITDA in the country was US$91m, which was an improvement of 15% year-on-year.
In the United States an increase in government expenditure, the increase in construction licenses and the highest housing construction levels seen in the last seven years all contributed to an EBITDA of US$49m in the first half, an 89% rise compared to the same period last year.