Italy: Italian cement maker Cementir Holding increased its revenue by 4.6% to Euro976m in 2012. Cementir's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 11.1% to Euro138m. However, sales volumes of grey and white cement fell by 6% to 9.85Mt in 2012 from 10.47Mt in 2011.
In its financial statement Cementir attributed its positive performance to the good development in prices across all of the company's geographic areas, although at a much slower pace of growth in the Scandinavian countries and in Turkey. Volumes of cement and clinker fell in 2012 due to the slowdown in the Italian and Egyptian markets and, to a lesser extent, the decline in exports from Turkey. This was partly offset by the positive performance posted in the Far East, thanks in part to the new capacity of a Chinese plant, now in its second full year of operation
For 2013 Cementir expects its financial performance to improve and its debt to diminish. A positive trend of white cement sales in China and positive performance in Egypt and Malaysia are expected to offset the expected contraction in Italy. In Turkey, growth should be modest as a result of the contraction in the residential construction market, although investment in infrastructure should remain high. The 2013 revenues are expected to beat Euro1bn and the EBITDA to exceed Euro150m. Cementir also launched a project to improve the profitability of its operations in various countries, which is expected to save Euro30m as of 2014.
