Displaying items by tag: Results

India: Ultratech Cement has reported a 52% year-on-year drop in profits to US$43m for the quarter ending on 30 September 2013 from US$89m in the same period in 2012. It attributed the fall to lower prices due to reduced demand.

"The results of the quarter have been impacted mainly on account of lower selling price and subdued demand. Cement demand remained sluggish on account of prolonged monsoon and low offtake from the infrastructure and housing sectors," the Aditya Birla Group subsidiary said in a statement.

Net sales fell to US$731m from US$763m. Ultratech sold 9.1Mt of cement and clinker in the second quarter of 2013. Total expenditure rose to US$666m from US$638m.

Ultratech saw a benefit from a reduction in the price of coal minimised by the devaluation of the rupee. However, optimisation of the fuel mix helped to reduce power and fuel inputs. The Indian cement producer said that demand for cement may grow 5% during the current fiscal year, driven by housing and infrastructure spends.

US: Texas Industries (TXI) has seen its cement sales rise by 20% year-on-year to US$104m for the first quarter of its 2013 – 2014 financial year, compared to US$87.3m in the same period in the previous year. Cement shipments rose by 17% to 1.31Mt from 1.12Mt.

Although the company noted a general improvement in construction markets, in the cement sector it also saw an increase of sales and prices in its Texas market. CEO Mel Brekhus stated that the start up of the company's new kiln in Central Texas was the most successful of any he had been involved with in his career.

TXI reported a net income of US$429,000 for the first quarter of 2013 – 2014, up from a net loss of US$2.66m in the same period in 2012 – 2013. Net sales rose by 34% to US$233m from US$175m.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has reported a year-on-year rise of 43.2% in profit after tax to US$91.9m for the year ending on 30 June 2013, from US$64.1m for the same period in 2012. This is the highest profit the Pakistan-based cement producer has ever recorded.

Sales by Lucky Cement rose by 12% to US$414m from US$370m. The company saw cement sales volumes grow by 1.4% to 6.06Mt from 5.97Mt. Local sales rose by 1.3% to 3.77Mt from 3.72Mt. Exports grew by 1.7% to 2.29Mt from 2.25Mt.

In its annual report Lucky Cement announced that two vertical grinding mills at its Karachi cement plant are scheduled to become operational in the last quarter of the 2013 – 2014 financial year and in September 2014 respectively. A tyre-derived fuel plant is planned to replace coal usage at it Pezu plant. The company is also in neogiation to supply surplus electricity generated at Pezu to the Peshawar Electric Company.

Overseas projects include a joint-venture cement plant in Democratic Republic of Congo, which is at the financial stage, and a joint-venture cement grinding plant in Iraq, which is due for completion at the end of October 2013 with commissioning and trial production due from early November 2013.

In its outlook Lucky Cement noted that cement consumption will rise in Pakistan due to the government's funding of the Public Sector Development Programme. However, rises in utility costs, weakening local currency and other factors will present challenges to the cement industry. The company intends to mitigate utility cost rises by investing in waste heat recovery systems at its Karachi and Pezu captive power plants. Each plant will producer 5MW, with expected completion set for December 2014.

Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement has reported that its income rose by 4% year-on-year to US$54.3m in the first six months of 2013 from US$52.2m in the same period in 2012. The Kazak cement producer attributed the increase to a rise in prices in an interim financial statement.

Steppe Cement reported a profit before tax of US$3.82m for the period, up from US$391,000 in the same period in 2012. However, sales volumes declined by 8% to 0.56Mt from 0.62Mt. In its statement the cement producer confirmed that it had committed to spend US$7.7m on renovating its production line #5

Indonesia: Indonesia's largest cement producer, Semen Indonesia has reported a 16% increase in cement sales year-on-year for the period January to August 2013 to 16Mt. This increase was supported by a 15% sales growth in the domestic market to 15.8Mt. Exports rose by 373% to 191Mt.

Semen Indonesia President Director Dwi Soetjipto said that the sales increase was also supported by the operations of its cement plants, Tuban IV and Tonasa V. In the first eight months of 2013 Semen Indonesia grew its market share to 44% from 40.2% in the same period in 2012. Semen Indonesia contributed to the majority of sales at 51.2%, followed by its subsidiary Semen Padang at 27.5% and Semen Tonasa at 21.2%. Semen Indonesia reported that its profit rose by 22.9% year-on-year to US$227m for the first eight months of 2013. Revenue rose by 31.9% year-on-year to US$1bn.

In 2013, Semen Indonesia aims to increase its cement production by 23.1% to 27.7Mt/yr from 22.5Mt/yr.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement has reported that its profit after taxation rose by 35% year-in-year to US$52.5m for the 2012 – 2013 financial year that ended on 30 June 2013. In the same period in the 2011 – 2012 year it reported a profit of US$39.2m. No reason for the increase in profit was given in the notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange. The cement producer also saw its sales rise by 9% to US$238m from US$219m.

In its release DG Khan revealed that its board has approved plans to build a green-field 2.6Mt/yr cement plant on land the company owns at Hub, Lasbela District. Meanwhile, plans to build a cement plant in Mozambique have been dropped due to a lack of supporting infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement Company has reported a net profit of US$28.5m for the first half of 2013, a slight rise from US$28.2m in the same period in 2012. Tabuk Cement attributed the rise to rationalisation of expenses. The cement producer's operating profit fell by 3% year-on-year to US$28.1m from US$29.0m.

Portugal: Poor cement sales in Portugal and Angola have reduced Semapa's net profit by 52.3% year-on-year to Euro39.3m for the first six months of 2013 from Euro82.3m in the same period in 2012.

Sales in Portugal fell by 15.2% to Euro82.2m for the period and sales in Angola fell by 20% to Euro11.6m. In Portugal Semapa blamed the on-going decline in the construction sector. In Angola it blamed imports from China. Despite political instability and regional variation in Tunisia, sales rose slightly by 0.5% to Euro36m for the period. Sales in Lebanon rose by 5.4% to Euro44.7m.

Overall the Portuguese conglomerate, which holds businesses in cement, pulp and paper and environmental services, saw its sales rise by 4.5% year-on-year to Euro990m for the first half of 2013. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 11.6% to Euro202m.

Portugal: Cimpor has reported that its sales rose by 19.6% year-on-year to Euro1.30bn for the first six months of 2013 from Euro1.09bn in the same period in 2012. It attributed the rise to increased sales of cement and clinker from business expansion in South America following assets brought in by owner InterCement.

The subsidiary of Brazil's InterCement saw its volumes of cement and clinker rise by 4.1% to 13.5Mt from 12.9Mt. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6.3% to Euro284m from Euro267m. It decreased its net loss by 63.5% to Euro74.8m from Euro204.8m.

Denmark: The Danish cement plant manufacturer FLSmidth has announced that its total order intake fell by 22% to Euro1.43bn in the first half of 2013 from Euro1.83bn in the first half of 2012. However, its revenue increased by 16% to Euro1.62bn from Euro1.41bn.

Earnings before amortisation and impairment of intangible assets (EBITA) decreased by 45% to US$72.5m from Euro131.9m in the first half of 2012. FLSmidth's profit decreased by 62% to Euro23.7m from Euro62.2m in the first half of 2012.

Looking towards the rest of 2013, FLSmidth said that, over its entire operations (which now includes recent acqusition Cembrit), it expects consolidated revenue of Euro3.5 - 3.75bn. The launch of an efficiency programme is expected to create a sustainable EBITA improvement of Euro100m with full-year effect from 2015.