Displaying items by tag: Results

India: UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has posted a 97% rise in net profit to US$102.5m in the second quarter of the 2012 fiscal year from US$51.9m in 2011 after it recorded a strong pick-up in demand for cement.

Quarterly net sales stood at US$875m compared year-on-year to US$728m, a rise of 20%. However, variable costs rose by 8% in the quarter ending 30 September 2012. "This was mainly on account of higher raw material prices, which are linked to the last increase in railway freight and increase in diesel prices," said UltraTech in a press release.

The company's initiative towards setting up additional clinkerisation plants at Chhattisgarh and Karnataka are expected to be operational from early 2013-14. The company's cement capacity will be enhanced by 10.2Mt/yr.

Mexico: Cemex has reduced its year-on-year net loss in the third quarter of 2012 due to steady sales and an increase in operating cash flow. However, the Mexican cement conglomerate has confirmed that over 1000 jobs will leave the company by December 2013.

The Mexican conglomerate reported a net loss for the quarter of US$203m, compared with a loss of US$730m in the third quarter of 2011. It noted a 13% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to US$730m from US$671m in the same quarter in 2011. Sales fell by 2% in dollar terms to US$3.9bn as a result of weaker currencies but rose by 2% from 2011 when adjusted for currency fluctuations. Consolidated cement sales volumes fell by 2% to 17.1Mt. Operating profit rose by 35% to US$410m.

"An improvement in pricing and volume in several of our regions as well as the continued success of our transformation effort has led to the highest operating EBITDA margin in three years," said Fernando Gonzalez, executive vice president of finance and administration.

Cemex generated EBITDA of US$27m in the US, a second consecutive quarter of positive cash flow in that market as sales rose by 12% from 2011 to US$826m. In Mexico, sales were 2% higher at US$875m, and EBITDA rose by 9% to US$313m. Sales rose in Central and South America and in Asia, although they were lower in both northern and southern Europe.

Gonzalez also said that IBM will be hiring around 450 Cemex workers, or 1% of its global staff, in a previously announced outsourcing deal. Another 675 people, or 1.5% of its workforce, will be made redundant. The staff downsizing is expected to be completed by December of 2013.

Pakistan: The Pakistan cement industry despatched 7.71Mt in the first three months of the Pakistan fiscal year that started on 1 July 2012, according to a statement from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). This compares to 7.50Mt in the same period in the 2011-2012 year.

Local demand increased during the quarter by 5.3% but a decline in exports by 2.68% reduced the overall gain in despatches to 2.81%. In September 2012 plants in north of the country despatched 1.50Mt of cement for the domestic market and exported 0.63Mt. Mills in the south despatched 0.29Mt of cement for the domestic market and exported 0.18Mt.

The statement went on to explain that the total production capacity of the Pakistan cement industry had increased to 44.8Mt but that low capacity utilisation is acutely more 'painful' for those units that have increased their capacity in recent years. Servicing debt has now become a major component of cost, even after three interest rates cuts since April 2012, as the effective bank mark-up for the industry remains above 12%. APCMA appealed to planners to provide some industry-specific interest rebate to the cement industry to keep it afloat.

With the Pakistan cement industry operating at 68.86% of its installed capacity, industry circles are worried by the stagnant domestic demand and continuously declining exports that is hurting the viability of the industry.

"Exports to India have been on constant decline ever since the two countries opened their borders for liberal bilateral trade. The decline is not due to lack of cement demand in India but because of very stringent non-tariff barriers erected by our neighbour," the statement said.

India: Heidelberg Cement India has reported an increase in its net profit for the third quarter of 2012, which ended on 30 September 2012, of US$1.42m, compared to a net loss of US$1.55m for the same period in 2011. Total income for the quarter increased by 23.1% to US$48.6m from US$39.5m.

HeidelbergCement India is a subsidiary of Cementrum IBV, a company incorporated under the laws of The Netherlands that is 100% controlled by HeidelbergCement AG.

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan cement producer Steppe Cement has reported a 28% year-on-year increase in its third quarter revenue for 2012 to US$48m. The company sold 518,000t of cement in the quarter, a year-on-year increase of 16%.

For the nine-month period that ended on 30 September 2012, Steppe Cement recorded a year-on-year rise in revenue of 25% to US$99.4m compared with US$79.3m. Sales volume increased by 8% to 1.13Mt from 1.05Mt. During this period the cement market in Kazakhstan increased by 13% year-on-year. In light of this Steppe Cement has revised its estimate for national consumption of cement in 2012 from 6.8Mt to 7.0Mt.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement Company (SCC) has announced that its net profit for the six months to 30 June 2012 surged by 45% year-on-year, to US$164m from US$113m in the same period of 2011. The company attributed the increase to rising local demand. SCC's operating profit increased to US$166m for the first half of 2012 from US$118m in 2011.

Mexico: Based on results for the months of July and August 2012 and preliminary estimates for the month of September 2012, the Mexican cement giant Cemex currently expects to report an improvement in its like-for-like net sales and earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) its 2012 third quarter results, on a consolidated basis.

Cemex expects that net sales for the quarter will decline by approximately 2%, although net sales on a like-to-like basis, which considers currency fluctuations, are expected to grow by approximately 3%. It expects its operating EBITDA to grow by about 9% and operating EBITDA, on a like-to-like basis, is expected to grow by approximately 13%.

The expected improvements are broadly in line with improvements seen in the first half of 2012 compared to the first half of 2011.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi cement producer Qassim Cement has posted a net profit of US$82m for the first half of 2012, a rise of 5.4% from US$77.8m in the same period in 2011. The company attributed the increase to a rise in sales but did not provide any exact sales figures. It reported an operating profit of US$84.1m for the first six months of 2012, a rise of 6.1% from US$79.3m in 2011.

Czech Republic: Czech cement producer Cement Hranice has reported a rise in sales of 14.5% year-on-year to Euro68.8m in 2011, due to higher exports. Its net profit increased by 10% to Euro20.3m following a previous drop, the company said in its annual report.

In 2010 the producer's sales dropped by 15% to Euro60.4m and its profit decreased by 26% to Euro18.5m. Cement Hranice's results improved in 2011 due to supplies to a sister company in Poland, according to the firm's chairman Jaromir Chmela. Sales of cement were also favourably influenced by good weather in 2011. The company raised the amount of sold products by 25% in 2011 as a result.

"Poland has not been affected by a crisis in the construction segment because it was preparing infrastructure for the European football championship," said Chmela.

Although Cement Hranice's sales increased in 2011, revenue fell due to a decrease in prices. Before 2011 the company sold 75% to 80% of its production on the Czech market but in 2011 its share dropped to 65%. The remaining 35% of production was exported to Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, increasing Cement Hranice's exports.

Cement Hranice's expects a drop in sales, as well as in profit, in 2012. The company's results will be influenced by the economic crisis and a continuing fall in construction output, according to Chmela. Cement Hranice, whose owner is German company Dyckerhoff AG, employed 166 people in 2011.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement has reported a pre-tax profit of US$391,000 for the first six months of 2012. For the same period in 2011 the Kazakhstan-based producer made a loss of US$2.84m.

Revenue rose by 21% to US$52.2m from US$43.1m. Sales of cement rose by 2.5% to 616,000t from 601,000t. Steppe Cement also reported that its production costs per tonne increased by 11% due to higher electricity, transportation and coal costs, although this was partly offset by productivity increases.

In its interim results Steppe Cement also reported that the Kazakhstan cement market as a whole increased by 16% during the first half of 2012. It expects national demand to rise by 9.7% in 2012 to 6.8Mt/yr from 6.2Mt/yr in 2011. Overall local production has increased by 20% in the first half of 2012 compared to 2011, with the share of imported cement decreasing from 17% to 14%. The Kazakhstan government has continued its road building plan as well as significant infrastructure projects in the main cities.