Displaying items by tag: Results
UltraTech Cement’s second quarter net profit up by 3%
20 October 2015India: Aditya Birla Group's UltraTech Cement has reported 3% year-on-year growth in its consolidated net profit at US$65.8m for the quarter that ended on 30 September 2015, helped by increased sales and better operating margins.
UltraTech Cement's total income rose by 4% to US$927m in the quarter. Its domestic cement sales volume increased by 5% year-on-year. While operating costs were lower due to lower energy costs, the benefit was partially offset due to the District Mineral Foundation levy in terms of provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development) Amendment Act, 2015.
UltraTech said that its capital expenditure programme is on track. During the quarter, it commissioned a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant in Jhajjar, Haryana and a 1.6Mt/yr grinding plant in Dankuni, West Bengal. "As a result, the cement capacity is enhanced to 64.7Mt/yr in India. The company also commissioned a 2Mt/yr bulk terminal on outskirts of Pune. With the further commissioning of a 5MW waste heat recovery system in Rawan, Chhattisgarh, power generation from waste heat recovery is augmented to 53MW," said the company in a statement.
UltraTech Cement expects cement demand to pick up in the October 2015 – March 2016 period. "With the governments' focus on infrastructure development, housing sector, smart cities and roads, among others, UltraTech Cement is well positioned across the country to meet the expected rise in demand and participate in the next phase of growth in the country," said UltraTech Cement.
Oman Cement posts 4% revenue increase
15 October 2015Oman: Oman Cement's revenue increased by 4% year-on-year to US$31.6m for the third quarter of 2015. On a quarter-by-quarter basis, its revenue grew by 12.4%. Oman Cement's net profit was US$4.02m compared to US$6.03m in the third quarter of 2014.
Steppe Cement’s third quarter revenue and sales volumes up
13 October 2015Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement has disclosed a rise in its third quarter 2015 revenue and sales volume. Its revenue rose to US$28.2m compared with US$27.8m in the same period of 2014. Some 630,329t of cement was sold during the third quarter of 2015, up by 8% year-on-year. For the nine months that ended on 30 September 2015, Steppe Cement's revenue fell to US$58.3m from US$60.9m in the same period of 2014.
Raysut Cement’s third quarter net profit falls by 8.5%
13 October 2015Oman: Raysut Cement has reported an 8.5% decrease in its net profit in the third quarter of 2015, according to Reuters. The company made US$12.6m in the three months that ended on 30 September 2015, compared with US$13.7m in the same period of 2014. Two analysts polled by Reuters have forecast that Raysut Cement would make a quarterly net profit of US$10.9 – 11.1m.
Cement consumption up in Vietnam but exports fall
07 October 2015Vietnam: Consumption of cement in Vietnam between 1 January 2015 to 30 September 2015 rose by 3% year-on-year to 52.1Mt compared to the same period of 2014, according to the Ministry of Construction. The ministry's Building Material Department said 40.3Mt of cement were sold on the domestic market, a year-on-year increase of 8%, while export volumes fell by 12% to 11.9Mt.
Despite the rise in the first nine months, cement consumption in September 2015 fell by 9% to 5.4Mt. 4.3Mt went to the domestic market, 11% less than in August 2015. The reduction in total consumption volume of cement in September 2015 was stated to be due to the impact of the rains and the 'ghost month' when people often avoid starting construction projects.
Experts expect cement consumption on the domestic market to be better by the year-end when the construction season begins. However, the cement industry will find it difficult to export cement by the year-end because other cement exporters in the region are set to increase their volumes.
Le Van Toi, Head of the Building Material Department, said that the enterprises should promote domestic consumption of cement and then improve competitive ability of cement products for exports.
Pakistan producers see double digit profit growth
07 October 2015Pakistan: Listed cement producers in Pakistan continued to deliver double digit profitability growth in the 2015 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2015. Their collective profits grew by 13% year-on-year to US$446m, with the improvement in profits caused by volume growth and lower energy costs.
Local cement demand remained strong, rising by 8.2% to 28.3Mt. This was due to higher public and private sector. The growth in profits was also supported by declining financial charges and falling selling and distribution expenses.
However, not all results were encouraging. Exports fell by 11.7% year-on-year to 7.2Mt due to weak demand from the Afghan market coupled with anti-dumping duty imposed by South Africa on Pakistani cement manufacturers.
Total industry dispatches are expected to grow by 8.8% to 38.6Mt in the fiscal year to 30 June 2016, primarily due to strong local demand expected from higher infrastructure spending and mega-projects including the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Analysts expect that manufacturing costs for the coming fiscal year will remain 'benign' for the industry and will be led by lower energy costs. Lower electricity charges and shift to more efficient sources like waste heat recovery will lead to further decrease in power and fuel costs for manufacturers. Moreover, imported coal prices are expected to remain at lower levels, owing to slowdown in China's growth, which will further drive up margins of cement manufacturers.
PPC takes knock as sales growth stalls
24 September 2015South Africa: PPC has reported flat or falling cement prices in all regions alongside tougher competition in Zimbabwe, Botswana and its home market.
"We believe that we are at or near the bottom of the cycle," said the company in a presentation on its website. "However, increasing competitive forces in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana weigh on the near-term outlook."
PPC's cement volumes in South Africa were flat in the 11 months that ended in August 2015. Its volumes increased in Botswana and Rwanda, but declined in Zimbabawe. PPC introduced a promotional price in Rwanda after opening a new 600,000t/yr plant there on 18 August 2015. While cement imports into South Africa from Pakistan declined after new duties were imposed in May 2015, increased local competition weighed on domestic prices, according to PPC. The company's expansion into other African countries 'remains on track.' Facilities under construction in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia are all about 45% complete.
Qalaa Holdings’ revenue climbs by 37.8% in the first half of 2015
22 September 2015Egypt: Qalaa Holdings' revenue in the quarter that ended on 30 June 2015 grew by 33.7% year-on-year to US$267m.
In the first six months of the year, revenue rose by 37.8% to EGP US$515m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rise by 169% year-on-year to US$72.2m in the first half of 2015. Qalaa's net loss after tax and minority interest improved by 55% to US$10.8m in the second quarter of 2015. In the first half of 2015, its net loss after tax improved by 53% to US$25.1m. This improvement comes despite charges of US$13.1m in the first half of 2015 related to discontinued operations.
Revenue growth was driven by strong performance at TAQA Arabia's fuel marketing arm, which reported 72% top-line growth in the second quarter of 2015 and 73%in the first half of 2015. In the cement division, ASEC Cement's Sudan subsidiary Al-Takamol made a strong contribution to Qalaa's top-line growth. Its revenue grew by 96% in the second quarter of 2015 and by 121% in the first half of 2015. Combined, the energy and cement divisions contributed some 70% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2015.
The first six months of 2015 saw ASEC Holding's sale of its 27.5% stake in Misr Qena Cement, which resulted in a gain from sale of investment equivalent to US$8.56m booked in the second quarter of 2015. The exit from Misr Qena Cement is one of several developments taking place during 2015 that play into Qalaa's risk reduction strategy and its ongoing deleveraging programme. Qalaa's ongoing restructuring efforts continue to reflect positively on its financial performance, with significant improvements at the EBITDA level and a continued narrowing of its bottom-line losses, which improved by 53% year-on-year in the first half of 2015.
Qalaa management has reiterated its strategy for 2015, with its underlining factors being the mitigation of financial risk by significantly deleveraging at the holding and platform company levels, as well as limiting operational risk through the divestment of non-core and non-essential assets while focusing resources on core business and ensuring they have the funding needed to deliver on growth plans.
"Qalaa has repeatedly stressed that deleveraging is one of the company's key strategic goals for 2015 and onward," said Qalaa co-founder and managing director Hisham El-Khazindar. "We remain on track with our divestment programme, the proceeds from which will be utilised to reduce total consolidated debt from the current US$971m, excluding debt associated with Africa Railways and a greenfield megaproject, to around US$639m by the end of 2015."
Bestway Group announces growth for Bestway Cement and Pakcem
15 September 2015Pakistan: The boards of directors of Bestway Cement and Pakcem have reported that net turnover increased by 5.4% to US$292m for Bestway Cement in the year that ended on 30 June 2015 and by 9.4% to US$53.5m for Pakcem for the six months that ended on 30 June 2015.
In its 2015 fiscal year, Bestway Cement's revenue grew by 4.18% to US$371m, its pre-tax profit grew by 10% to US$121m and its sales volumes grew by 1.2% to 4.42Mt. In the six months that ended on 30 June 2015, Pakcem's revenue grew by 11.5% to US$68.1m, its pre-tax profit grew by 11% to US$15.7m and its sales volumes grew by 8% to 836,000t.
"We are happy to share our annual results for 2014 - 2015 for Bestway Cement and six-month period for Pakcem, with growth in sales of 4.18% for Bestway and 11.5% for Pakcem,' said Zameer Choudrey, chief executive of Bestway Group. "This was a transformative year for us, with multiple major initiatives that will shape Bestway for years to come. We closed the year by becoming the largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan. Construction trends are favourable in Pakistan and I am confident that we are particularly well positioned to succeed and accelerate growth through innovation."
Domestic cement demand grew by 8% year-on-year to 28.2Mt. Exports, however, fell by 12% to 7.2Mt, mainly due to sluggish demand and competitive prices. The year 2014 - 2015 posed fierce competition for cement producers. However, Bestway Cement increased its market share in the north zone from 17% to 21.4% and became the largest cement producer in the country with 8Mt/yr of cement production capacity. Additionally, the company continued to be one of the largest cement exporters to Afghanistan and India.
During the year, Bestway Group further reduced its reliance on the national grid by taking energy-saving initiatives and launched two 6MW and 7.5MW waste heat recovery (WHR) power plants at its Hattar and Farooqia oplants. It also plans to inaugurate another 12MW plant at Pakcem Limited.
"We are confident about 2015 - 2016," said Choudrey. "The outlook for Pakistan's economy is positive, but there are still macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. We will continue to benefit from the positive development trend witnessed in infrastructure projects such as Pakistan China Economic Corridor. The considerable drop in global coal prices and lower interest rates will provide us with additional tailwind. In view of our strong positioning, our excellent product portfolio, our production sites in attractive locations and the commitment of our people, we are well-equipped to achieve our goals."
US: Mitsubishi Materials will likely enjoy a higher-than-expected profit in its North American cement operations in the year that ends in March 2016, due to brisk demand for cement and ready-mix concrete.
The North American cement segment's operating profit is expected to be around US$115m, up by 10% year-on-year. The business accounts for nearly 20% of its consolidated operating profit. North American demand for concrete and cement has increased thanks to the construction of housing and commercial facilities, mainly in southern California, where the company's US headquarters is based. Cement demand in southern California is projected to grow by 10% in 2015 and Mitsubishi Materials expects to raise its prices by a few percent. North American profit is likely to offset rising expenses for truck drivers stemming from labour shortages, beating the forecast the company had made at the start of its fiscal year.
For the April - September 2015 period, the strength in the North American cement business will likely help the company's group operating profit reach US$284m, comparable to the same period of 2014 and roughly in line with its forecast. Riding the brisk demand, Mitsubishi Materials plans to increase its US cement capacity by 150% to about 4Mt/yr in its fiscal 2016 or after.