Displaying items by tag: Results

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement’s operating revenue grew by 7.5% year-on-year to US$657m for the half of its 2023 fiscal year, covering the six-month period to 30 September 2022, compared to US$612m in the same period in its 2022 fiscal year. However, rising costs led to the company reporting an operating loss of US$41.9m compared to an operating profit of US$35.6m previously. Its pretax loss was US$37.7m compared to a pretax profit of US$47.9m. Sumitomo Osaka Cement recorded an overall net loss of US$20m, compared to a net profit of US$41.5m in the first half of the 2022 financial year.

The company expects to record net revenues of US$1.42bn across the entire 2023 fiscal year, with a net loss of US$4.1m. This indicates that it has forecast performance to improve significantly over the next six months.

India: India Cements Limited has posted a loss of US$16.9m during the quarter that ended on 30 September 2022 on account of increases in fuel and coal costs. The manufacturer had earlier reported a profit of US$9.3m in the three months to 30 June 2022. India Cements’ vice chair and managing director, N Srinivasan, “It was a difficult quarter because the coal price increase was quite sharp.”

Argentina: Loma Negra, part of Brazil-based InterCement, recorded net sales of US$236m in the third quarter of 2022, a 4.2% year-on-year rise compared to the third quarter of 2021. The group attributed the increase to improved cement sales, complemented by improved concrete and aggregates sales.

Loma Negra’s consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 12.7% to US$47.0m. However, it still made a net loss of US$76.6m, mainly due to the cancellation of debt in foreign currencies with local funding.

Sergio Faifman, Loma Negra's chief executive officer, noted, “The industry (exhibits) a positive trend, showing a high level of activity and heading to a record year. In fact, the third quarter was the best in history in terms of cement shipments for the industry and for Loma Negra. Our production capacity and our extensive nationwide distribution network allow us to keep up with the growing demand, underpinning our status as leaders in the industry.”

India: Birla Corporation has recorded a net loss of US$6.8m in the three months to 30 September 2022, against a net profit of US$10.6m in the same period in 2021. The company's bottom line was impacted by higher interest and depreciation costs on account of its integrated Mukutban cement plant, which cost US$336m. When scaled up to full capacity, the Mukutban plant will increase the company's production capacity to 20Mt/yr.

Even with a double-digit growth in cement sales by volume, Birla Corporation's third quarter profits were impaired by a sharp rise in power and fuel costs, which could not be passed on to consumers in the seasonally weak monsoon quarter. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter fell by 51.6% due to a substantial increase in production costs.

France: Vicat’s revenue in the first nine months of 2022 came to Euro2.70bn, a 15% rise year-on-year compared to Euro2.35bn in the same period in 2021. Its revenues in France rose by 8% to Euro889m from Euro824m. Its revenue in the rest of Europe fell by 4.5% to Euro288m from Euro301m. In the Americas, Vicat’s revenues increased by 27% to Euro637m from Euro500m, while they rose even more dramatically across the Mediterranean rim, up by 57% from Euro166m to Euro260m. In Africa revenues came to Euro245m, broadly unchanged on the year. In its Asia region, including Kazakhstan and India, its revenues rose by 18% to Euro376m from Euro320m.

The group’s sales volumes of cement fell by 5% to 20.3Mt from 21.3Mt. However, price rises enabled it to increase its operational revenue by 18% to Euro1.69bn from Euro1.43bn. Similarly, concrete sales volumes fell by 4.8% to 7.48Mm3 but operational sales rose by 16% to Euro1.04bn.

Guy Sidos, the group's chair and chief executive officer said "Vicat's nine-month sales performance reflects the resilience of its markets despite a high basis of comparison in 2021. Against a backdrop of very high inflation, the group's sales posted a solid increase compared with the same period of 2021, supported by strong growth in selling prices across all its regions. In a global environment that provides little short-term visibility, especially regarding energy costs, we are executing our strategy to improve our industrial performance, make greater use of secondary fuels, reduce our carbon footprint and implement a pricing policy tailored to these new conditions."

Vicat announced that it expects its overall earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to be lower in 2022 as a whole than in 2021 but comparable to 2020.

Denmark: Cement plant equipment manufacturer FLSmidth has reported strong fundamentals in its third quarter results for 2022. Its cement order intake increased by 8% year-on-year compared to the third quarter of 2021. Cement sector revenue increased by 7% organically and by 13% when including positive currency exchange effects. This, alongside solid performance from its mining sector, helped the group’s order intake to increase by 11% overall for the quarter.

Group chief executive officer Mikko Keto said, “The positive momentum that we saw in the second quarter has been sustained in the third quarter where we have seen robust growth in both order intake and revenue. The mining business continued to benefit from a healthy backlog and fundamentally positive market conditions, with a 53% growth in service order intake. In addition, the cement business delivered an earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) margin of 3%. The short-term outlook has improved based on stable performance despite an emerging recession.”

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has reported that it has increased its revenue by 13% year-on-year to Euro15.8bn during the first nine months of 2022. It said that high energy and raw material costs seen during the third quarter were only partly offset. The group’s net result for the nine-month period showed a 6.1% decline to Euro2.72bn. The decline was also due to significantly higher energy prices and increased raw material costs, which Heidelberg Materials said could only be offset partially by energy savings, cost discipline and price increases.

In the first nine months of 2022, sales volumes in all business lines declined due to consolidation and the economic impact from the Russian-Ukraine war on the European economy. Cement and clinker sales reduced by 6% to 90.0Mt, compared to 95.7Mt in the first nine months of 2021. Heidelberg Materials cited capacity reduction in North America, specifically its Western US operations, and the economic downturn in Europe as factors. Excluding consolidation effects, cement and clinker sales were down by 3.8%.

Heidelberg Materials said that it forecasts increased revenue for 2022, which will be adversely affected by increased outgoings. It expects global demand for building materials to weaken slightly on the back of higher costs and inflationary pressures.

Egypt: South Valley Cement has posted a 41.5% year-on-year decline in its net loss after tax during the first nine months of 2022, according to a statement filed to the Egyptian Exchange. The company incurred a net loss of US$3.42m in the January - September period of 2022, compared to a loss of US$5.88m in the same period in 2021. Sales from its cement segment surged to US$25.2m from US$7.43m previously.

Italy: Cementir Holding sold 8.2Mt of cement and clinker during the first nine months of 2022, down by 1.7% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 levels. China, Denmark, Egypt and Türkiye all contributed to the decline. Group nine-month revenues were Euro1.26bn, up by 25% year-on-year. Third-quarter 2022 revenues rose most sharply, by 45%, in Türkiye, followed by the US (38%), the Nordic and Baltic region (20%) and Belgium (17%). During the third quarter of the year, operating costs increased by 36% to Euro365m from Euro268m. Raw materials, fuels and transport costs all contributed to the rise.

In the first nine months of 2022, the group recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Euro238m, up by 11% from Euro215m during the first nine months of 2021.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement recorded consolidated sales of US$367m during the first half of its 2023 financial year. The figure corresponds to 19% year-on-year sales growth from US$307m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. Nonetheless, costs growth of 23% to US$338m from US$275m caused the company's net profit to drop by 21% to US$21.5m from US$27.1m.