Displaying items by tag: Results

Taiwan/China: Taiwan Cement Corp. (TCC) has made rapid progress in the Chinese market so far in 2011, recently announcing a massive seven-fold increase in first half earnings compared to 2010. TCC took USD138.5m in earnings from operations in China in the first half, which it attributes to higher product prices and successful capacity expansions. TCC's subsidiary in China, TCC International Holding Ltd, registered USD43.3m and USD95.2m in earnings in the first and second quarters respectively.

According to analysts, China's cement industry normally improves in the second quarter. TCC International shipped 7Mt of cement in the first quarter, with investors forecasting the volume to exceed 9.2Mt in the second quarter. If realised, such figures would represent a 30% year-on-year increase.

Vietnam: According to figures released by the government's General Statistics Office, cement producers in Vietnam are estimated to have made 18.7Mt of cement in the first four months of 2011, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%. In April 2011 the country's cement output was estimated at 5.5Mt, up by 12.1% on the year.

Pakistan: All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has appealed to the government to rescue the ailing cement industry, which has suffered net accumulated losses of USD16.3m during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (which ends 30 June 2011).

A spokesman for the APCMA said that the cement industry suffered losses mainly due to rapid increase in input prices like coal, furnace oil, electricity, paper bags, interest rate, diesel and transportation. He said that prevailing market cement prices were inadequate to meet the increased cost of production.

In the first nine months only three cement units earned a profit. The spokesman said that this lopsided performance of the sector is mainly due to stagnant domestic demand and a steep decline in exports of 12.52%. The units located in the northern part of the country had lost export viability due to higher transportation costs between their production sites and the coast.

Industry experts fear a total collapse of the sector if immediate remedial steps are not taken and that the decline in domestic sales of cement is a direct reflection of subdued economic activities. However, as the global economy shows signs of recovery, the decline in cement exports should be a matter of grave concern for the economic managers of the country.

Saudi Arabia: Cement companies in Saudi Arabia recorded a 16% increase in sales in April 2011, the highest in more than a year. Domestic cement sales grew to 4.2Mt in April 2011, compared with 3.6Mt in the same period of 2010. Private projects, notably those for housing and schools boosted demand for the material.

"In 2010 people were very wary. The last thing they wanted to do was commit money, but now the outlook is looking brighter," said Farouk Miah, an analyst at NCB Capital in Riyadh. "There is also a lot of activity for plans to develop the rest of the country, in Makkah, Madina and Jeddah," he added.

Saudi Arabia is expected to need two million more homes by 2014 to keep up with the demands of a population that has quadrupled in 40 years. Shares of cement companies have already had a decent run in 2011, up an average of 24% over the same period of 2010.

It is expected that Saudi Cement, Southern Province Cement and Yamama Cement should benefit from the demand because they have the largest volume. Smaller cement companies, which are already running at full capacity, will be less well positioned to benefit.

Switzerland: Holcim has reported a return to profitability in its first quarter 2011 financial results, with net income of Euro8.07m on a 1.8% decline in sales. For comparison Holcim made a loss of Euro54.9m in the same period of 2010. The group's revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was Euro3.67bn compared to Euro3.83bn in the first quarter of 2010. The group's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was down by 17.1% compared to the first quarter of 2010 at Euro608.2m. The company attributed the decline to negative currency impacts of Euro59m. When looking at like-for-like EBITDA, however, the decline was only 1.8%. The company added that like previous first quarters, the cash flow from operating activities was minus Euro434m due to seasonal factors.

Holcim said that it expects the construction market to continue to recover in 2011. Reporting its expectations for the rest of 2011 Holcim said, "We are still of the opinion that the construction sector in the mature markets will recover and that the growth in emerging markets will continue." Holcim added that it was confident of, "securing its share of future growth in the emerging market and that its lean cost structures will enable it to benefit above average from continuing economic recovery in Europe and North America."

India: India Cement Ltd announced its standalone and consolidated annual results for the year ending 31 March 2011 on 30 May 2011.The company registered a decline in its net sales by 7.17% to US$778.9m for the year ended 31 March 2011 from US$839.1m registered in the previous fiscal year. Total expenditure (excluding depreciation) increased by 4.15% and for the 2011 fiscal year it stood at US$682.4m, up from US$6.552m. The rise in expenditure was attributed to increases in power and fuel charges. In line with this company posted a net profit of US$15.15m, down from US$78.83m in the preivous fiscal year, a tremendous decline of nearly 81%.

The cement industry, which recorded impressive double-digit growth in the last four years, entered a phase of decelleration with the demand slackening during the year under review and registered a growth of 'only' 4.7%. An analysis of the demand reveals that while the growth in the west of India was 11.7% followed by the east at 10.3%, the central region at 9.7% and the north at 3.1%, the south registered a contraction of 3.4%. Within the south, Andhra Pradesh registered a significant decline of 17.1% in demand. With substantial increase in the capacity in the southern region, this negative growth had put pressure on cement prices, which reached their lowest level in the past five years during the second quarter of the period under review.

Over all capacity utilisation for the industry fell to 76% and in the south capacity utilisation was at just 66%.

Brazil: Votorantim's overall operating performance improved in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010, with cement sales increasing. The group's consolidated net revenues and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted US$3.53bn and US$851m, an increase of 11% and 1% respectively. Ebitda margin declined from 26.5% to 24.0%, impacted by its cement and steel businesses.

The groups cement interests were negatively impacted in Brazil, as a result of the exchange of certain production plants for Cimpor shares in the third quarter of 2010. Nevertheless, sales volume increased by 1% in the country and by 2% in North America. Net revenues went up by 6% to total US$1.16bn, supported by a price increase in Brazil. EBITDA decreased from US$412m to US$312m mainly due to the exchange of certain production plants for Cimpor shares. In addition, EBITDA was also impacted by higher electricity and petcoke costs in Brazil and increased inventory in North America. Votorantim's total debt decreased by 1% by the end of the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010, from US$14.06bn to US$13.93bn.

Capital expenditure amounted to US$690m, mainly for expansion projects and investment in cement accounted for 47% of the total.