Displaying items by tag: Results

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s earnings have fallen due to elections and price cuts in Nigeria and competition in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 11.2% year-on-year to US$312m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$351m in the same period in 2018. Sales revenue fell slightly to US$670m, due to declines in Nigeria. Cement sales volumes grew slightly to 3.99Mt in Nigeria and by 4.8% to 2.35Mt in the rest of Africa. Despite this Dangote Cement noted that its sales volumes in Nigeria were its third-highest quarterly volume ever.

“It was a challenging quarter with delays to the Nigerian elections that impacted sales, increased discounting in Nigeria and tougher market conditions in South Africa and other Pan-African markets. In addition, our variable costs were hit by foreign exchange effects, as well as higher fuel and distribution costs,” said Joe Makoju, group chief executive officer (CEO) of Dangote Cement.

Peru: UNACEM’s income rose by 1% year-on-year to US$145m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$143m in the same period in 2018. Its profit grew by 21% to US$57.5m from US$47.4m. Its cement despatches increased by 6.3% to 1.27Mt from 1.20Mt. The cement producer said that although its sale volumes had increased its prices had lowered. Fuel costs also rose.

China: Anhui Conch’s revenue grew by 63% year-on-year to US$4.53bn in the first quarter of 2019 from US$2.79bn in the same period in 2018. Its net profit rose by 27% to US$903m from US$710m.

China: China Resources Cement’s turnover fell by 6.7% year-on-year to US$957m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$1.03bn in the same quarter of 2018. Its profit fell by 16% to US$189m from US$226m. Its cement sales volumes dropped by 7.7% to 15.2Mt from 16.5Mt, clinker sales fell by 2% to 1.16Mt from 1.18Mt and concrete volumes declined by 15% to 2.58Mm³ from 3.03Mm³. Sales volumes fell in the company’s main markets in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s revenue grew by 12% year-on-year to US$729m in the first nine months to 31 March 2019 from US$654m in the same period in 2018. Its local cement and clinker sales volumes dropped by 13% to 4.4Mt from 5.1Mt. Export sales more than doubled to 1.5Mt from 0.7Mt, Overall sales volumes rose to 6Mt. Its income fell by 18% to US$80m from US$97.3m. It said that its cost of sales rose by 14.1% due to rises in the cost of coal, packing material and other fuel prices.

The cement producer said that a 2.6Mt/yr expansion project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be completed by the end of 2019. Contacting for a new 1.2Mt/yr plant in Samawah in Iraq has been finalised including a power plant from Finland’s Wärtsilä. Commercial production at the site is planned for mid-2020.

Mexico: Cemex’s cement sales volumes fell by 6% year-on-year to 14.9Mt in the first quarter of 2019 from 15.9Mt in the same period in 2018. It has blamed this on falling volumes in its key markets in Mexico and the US. Its net sales dropped by 3% to US$3.24bn from US$3.34bn. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 6% to US$562m from US$598m. Its concrete sales volumes fell slightly to 12.1Mm3 from 12.2Mm3.

“We are pleased with the 1% top-line growth we achieved during the first quarter, despite volume declines in our two most important markets: Mexico and the US. During the quarter, we enjoyed improved pricing performance in all our regions with favourable volume dynamics in Europe. In the US, ready-mix and aggregates volumes also grew despite adverse weather in part of our footprint,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cemex.

By region, the group also reported falling sales in its South, Central America and the Caribbean and Asia, Middle East and Africa regions. However, sales volumes of both cement and concrete increased by over 10% in Europe. Here, net sales rose by 3% to US$805m from US$781m. This was attributed to ‘strong’ domestic demand in most countries and a mild winter.

China: Huaxin Cement’s sales revenue rose by 33% year-on-year to US$887m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$669m in the same period in 2018. Its net profit nearly doubled to US$150m from US$78.7m.

Pakistan: Bestway Cement’s turnover grew slightly to US$421m in the nine months to 31 March 2019 from US$414m in the same period in 2018. Its profit rose by 9.5% to US$67.4m from US$61.5m.

Pakistan: DG Khan’s sales rose by 30% to US$215m in the nine months to 31 March 2019 from US$165m in the same period in 2018. However, its profit dropped by nearly half to US$18.5m from US$35.1m. Its cost of sales increased by 56% in the reporting period.

Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s net sales fell by 5% year-on-year to US$129m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$136m in the same period in 2018. Its profit after tax dropped to US$13.4m from US$23.8m.