Displaying items by tag: Cementos Molins

Spain: Cementos Molins has sold 10.61% in its Argentina-based unit Cementos Avellaneda to Votorantim Europe for Euro45.2m. Following the deal Cementos Molins retains 51% in the company and Votorantim Europe, part of Brazilian group Votorantim, is holds 49%. The Spanish firm also transferred a 12.61% stake in its Uruguayan-based unit Cementos Artigas to Votorantim Europe for Euro19m, keeping 49% in the subsidiary and its partner raised its stake to 51%.

Spain: Spanish cement company Cementos Molins has reported a net profit of Euro31m for the nine months to September 2012, an increase of 85% compared to the same period in 2011. In a regulatory filing the company attributed the increase to its international operations.

The foreign units of the company recorded a net profit of a total Euro55m while the domestic subsidiaries registered a combined loss of Euro24m. Cementos Molins' turnover was Euro688m from January to September 2012, a rise of 12.6% year-on-year.

Sales abroad grew by 23% to Euro550.4m while domestic sales fell by 15.7% to Euro138m due to a significant reduction in demand. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 43% in Euro159m. The company's net debt was Euro349m at the end of September 2012, a reduction of Euro49m from December 2011.

Uruguay: Three cement companies are planning to invest up to US$262m in the Treinta y Tres region of Uruguay to meet demand for building materials driven by the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The Uruguan state oil and cement company Ancap, alongside Spanish firm Cementos Molins and Brazil's Votorantim, have filed an environmental impact study for a new cement plant with a capacity of 750,000t/yr. Total costs are estimated at US$160m, with Cementos Molins contributing 60% of the investment and Ancap and Votarantim contributing 20% each.

Ancap is also preparing environmental studies for two new lime production plants. A first unit will have a capacity of 150t/day with an investment of US$7m. Ancap has already secured a contract with Brazilian federal power holding group Eletrobras to place this production. A second unit will have a capacity of 500t/day with an investment of US$95m, including infrastructure costs related to the project.

In order to provide the region with better export options towards Brazil, Uruguayan port authority ANP is trying to develop a commercial route connecting the Merín and the Los Patos lakes. Merín lake is on the border between Uruguay and Brazil's southernmost state Rio Grande do Sul, and it is connected by the San Gonzalo canal to the Los Patos lake, which in turn empties into the Atlantic ocean.

Tunisia: A new cement plant has begun production in the region of Rouissat Chbika in the governorate of Kairouan, Tunisia. It is a unit of the Tunisian-Spanish Company SOTACIB, a subsidiary of Spanish group Cementos Molins and has cost the company US$2890m. It has created 350 jobs and will produce 4000t/day once it is fully commissioned.

Europe: Several European cement producers have announced financial results for the second quarter and the first half of 2011. On 28 July 2011 Lafarge, the world's largest cement producer, announced that its profit fell by 16%, in part due to higher material costs (Read full story here). Other European producers have seen a mixed bag of results for the quarter, with Ciments Français and HeidelbergCement both reporting improvements over the year. Unlike the multinationals however, Cementos Molins and Titan, which both have significant interests in markets that are currently depressed, have had bad quarters.

Ciments Français took a consolidated revenue of Euro2.04bn in the first six months of 2011, down by 1.8% on the year. The group's recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down more significantly, by 12.8%, at Euro386.4m and its net profit was Euro232.2m. This compares favourably with the Euro166.9m made in the six months to 30 June 2010. The group's net debt was down by Euro218.2m to Euro1.19bn. Group sales volumes in the first six months of 2011 remained relatively stable (-0.7%) for cement and clinker at 21.9Mt. Sales volumes increased in India (+16.3%), France and Belgium (+10.8%), Thailand (+6.6%) and Morocco (+6.0%). Volumes dropped in Greece (-26.1%), Bulgaria (-25.0%) and Egypt (-14.1%). Volumes remained fairly steady in the group's other markets.

HeidelbergCement (HC) announced that its net profit grew to Euro208m in the second quarter, up by 25% on the same period of 2010. Revenue rose only slightly (3%) on the year to Euro3.4bn, burdened by negative exchange rate effects. The group's operating profit dropped by more than 10% to Euro441m, which the company attributes to rising energy costs that have not been offset by the implemented price increases. "Despite a positive development of revenue and results, we are not satisfied with the second quarter," said HC's CEO Bernd Scheifele, who added that the group's FOX 2013 fiscal savings programme had so far generated savings of some Euro134m. Its turnover for the second quarter was Euro3.39bn.

The attributable profit of the Spanish cement company Cementos Molins for the first half of 2011 went down by 57.8% year-on-year to Euro11.64m. Its turnover inched up by 0.6% to Euro400.23m. The 15% increase in the company's international operations offset a massive 24.7% fall that it registered in the domestic market. Its EBITDA amounted to Euro76.19m between January and June 2011, an annual decline of 16.2%.

Meanwhile, analysts are predicting an even worse time for Greece's Titan when it announces its results on 2 August. They expect its profit to drop by a staggering 64% amid the ongoing weakness in the Greek and US markets where Titan has a significant majority of its assets.