Displaying items by tag: Results

Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded a profit after tax of US$131m for the quarter ending 31 March 2025, up by 86% from US$70.5m in the same period of 2024. Revenue rose by 22% year-on-year to US$623m, driven largely by strategic pricing initiatives in Nigeria, where revenue grew by 54%. Gross profit rose to US$368m from US$262m, while profit before tax increased by 87% to US$195m from US$104m. Group earnings by interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) surged by 49% to US$289m.

The group’s cement volumes declined by 7% to 6.6Mt during the quarter, reflecting reduced demand and heightened inflationary pressures across key markets. However, export volumes grew by 21%, supported by eight clinker shipments to Ghana and Cameroon.

Mexico: Cemex reported a ‘record’ net income of US$734m in the first quarter of 2025. Net sales stood at US$3.65bn, down from US$3.94bn year-on-year, driven by higher consolidated prices partially offsetting lower volumes in Mexico. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached US$601m, compared to US$731m in the previous quarter.

In Mexico, sales reached US$981m, a 25% year-on-year decrease from US$1.31bn in the previous corresponding period. The US also recorded a slight decline in sales from US$1.2bn to US$1.19bn in the first quarter of 2025. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region recorded a 2% increase in sales from US$1.07bn to US$1.04bn, and the South, Central America and the Caribbean region recorded sales of US$314m, a 2% increase from US$206m in the first quarter of 2024.

Under new CEO Jaime Muguiro, Cemex plans to use its ‘Project Cutting Edge’ initiative to achieve yearly EBITDA savings of at least US$150m in 2025 and savings of US$350m by 2027.

Switzerland: Holcim reported stable net sales of €5.89bn in the first quarter of 2025, down by 0.8% year-on-year from €5.93bn. North America recorded a good start to the year despite unfavourable weather conditions, while Latin America delivered further profitable growth, driven by an 8% rise in local currency. Europe continued strong recurring EBIT growth and margin expansion, and Asia, Middle East and Africa recorded double-digit recurring EBIT growth, led by North Africa. Holcim expects the good momentum to continue with strong demand in North Africa, a positive outlook in Australia and price recovery in China.

Net sales of its low-carbon ECOPlanet cement represented 29% of cement sales, up from 26% year-on-year. Holcim said it is “well-positioned to navigate the current economic uncertainty” and confirmed its 2025 guidance of mid-single digit net sales growth in local currency.

Sectoral adjustment continued for the cement industry in China in 2024. Now that the financial results from many of the larger China-based cement producers are out it gives Global Cement Weekly a chance to review the world’s biggest cement market. The decline in national output of cement accelerated in 2024 and the results showed this. CNBM summed up the situation as follows: “In 2024, affected by the reduction of real estate investment and the slowdown of infrastructure projects, the cement industry in China was caught in a situation of insufficient demand and aggravated overcapacity.” Output dropped by just under 10% year-on-year to 1.83Bnt in 2024 according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS). This is the fourth consecutive annual decline and the lowest figure the sector has experienced since around 2010.

Graph 1: Cement output in China, 2018 to 2024. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China.

The China Cement Association’s (CCA) assessment concurred with CNBM. Although it detected a slowing in the decline in the second half of 2024, especially in the fourth quarter. It noted that the country has a production capacity of 1.81Bnt/yr and an estimated clinker utilisation rate of 53% in 2024. Note the large apparent difference this may suggest between the NBS and CCA figures. Data from the NBS for the first quarter of 2025 has shown a slowing of the decline. Output was 331Mt, a fall of just 1.7% year-on-year from the same period in 2023. The CCA’s prediction for 2025 is that cement demand will fall by 5% as the real estate market continues to deflate. However, it expects government-led capacity reduction schemes to start making progress.

Graph 2: Sales revenue from selected Chinese cement producers. Source: Company financial reports.

Graph 3: Sales volumes of cement and clinker from selected Chinese cement producers. Source: Company financial reports.

CNBM’s sales revenue fell by 14% to US$24.8bn in 2024. Sales of its Basic Building Materials segment fell by 23% to US$12.5bn. This was blamed on falling volumes and prices of cement and other heavy building materials. Sales from the group’s two other segments - New Materials and Engineering Technology Services - rose modestly but this wasn’t enough to hold up total group sales. Operating profit from the Basic Building Materials segment decreased by 45% to US$544m. It was a similar picture at Anhui Conch with sales revenue and net profit down by 36% to US$12.4bn and by 25% to US$1.01bn respectively. Notably, CNBM’s sales volumes of cement decreased by 21% to 245Mt in 2024 compared to a decrease of 6.5% to 268Mt by Anhui Conch. This made Anhui Conch the world’s biggest cement company by sales volumes in 2024.

Tangshan Jidong Cement and China Resources Building Materials Technology (CRBMT) both reported a similar situation. Revenue was down and a net loss was reported by the former. Both revenue and net profit were down for the latter. CRBMT said that its cement capacity utilisation rate was 69% in 2024, down from 71% in 2023. This appears to be significantly higher than the national rate mentioned above by the CCA but the company’s regional distribution may be at play here.

Following from recent years, Huaxin Cement bucked the general market trend and its revenue rose modestly to US$4.7bn in 2024. Its net profit still fell by 12.5% to US$330m. Its overseas businesses made the difference. It reported an increase of 37% to 16.2Mt in overseas cement sales with its non-China cement production capacity rising by 8% to 22.5Mt/yr. Milestones include various new or upgraded plant projects in Sub-Saharan Africa capped off by its announcement at the end of 2024 that it was preparing to buy Lafarge Africa. Other cement companies were also keen to promote overseas activity. CNBM said that the first signing of overseas merger and acquisition was achieved in 2024. This is likely to be the purchase of the Djebel El Oust cement plant in Tunisia from Votorantim Cimentos that was completed in late March 2025. Tangshan Jidong Cement acquired the remaining 40% share in South Africa-based Mamba Cement in April 2024.

All of this leaves the cement sector in China still waiting for the market to stabilise. US tariffs seem unlikely to have an effect in any meaningful way unless the general economy is altered. The declining real estate sector and cement production overcapacity are the main drivers at the national level. The CCA expects the real estate market to continue to fall in 2025 although it hopes that government remedy measures will start to show an effect. It is more optimistic about capacity reduction plans. One route towards this is through merger and acquisition activity. In a recent response to investors about industry integration, Huaxin Cement speculated that the sector might consolidate down to 30 companies from around 300 at present. There is clearly still a way to go.

Mexico: GCC has reported a 10% year-on-year decline in its net sales to US$247m in the first quarter of 2025, from US$273m a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 11% to US$73.6m. US concrete volumes rose by 5%, as well as cement and concrete prices across the US and Mexico.

CEO Enrique Escalante said “Despite the challenges we faced during the first quarter, including adverse weather conditions and a dynamic global environment, the fundamentals of our business remain strong. As we move forward, we remain cautiously optimistic, supported by our ability to adapt quickly and leverage our competitive advantages to drive growth throughout the year.”

Vietnam: VICEM Ha Tien Cement recorded a net loss of US$374m in the first quarter of 2025, down from US$952m a year earlier, despite an 11% rise in cement consumption and a 6% increase in revenues to US$61.2m, according to the Vietnam National Cement Association.

The company targets 5.83Mt of cement and 530,000t of clinker sales in 2025, aiming for US$276m in revenue and US$7.1m in profit, which it will reportedly achieve through tightening cost control and diversify output.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement reported a net loss of US$7.39m in 2024, compared to a net profit of US$10.04m in 2023. Sales fell by 5% year-on-year to US$68.4m from US$71.8m in December 2023. In the nine months to 30 September 2024, net profit declined by 31% to US$8.17m.

It’s been a strong start to 2025 for the Brazilian cement sector. The National Cement Industry Union (SNIC) reported recently that cement sales in the first quarter of 2025 have been the strongest since 2015. Producers sold 15.6Mt in the three month period, a rise of 5.9% year-on-year from 14.7Mt in the same period in 2024.

The result has been attributed to a growing real estate market boosted by housing schemes such as the ongoing Minha Casa Minha Vida programme. SNIC also noted a growing labour market and wage increases, although sales from infrastructure projects failed to keep up. Unfortunately, SNIC is wary of whether the positive news will continue in the second half of 2025. Risks such as interest rates, growing general debt levels and the effects of any potential international trade wars all lie ahead.

Graph 1: Cement production in Brazil, 2017 - 2024. Production estimated for 2024 based on National Cement Industry Union (SNIC) preliminary data on sales. Source: SNIC.

Based on preliminary SNIC data from December 2024, the country likely had its best year in 2024 since the market peaked in the mid-2010s. Cement sales were reported to have risen by 3.9% to 64.7Mt in 2024. Consumption was 73Mt. An estimate of production based on the same rate of growth suggests that cement production may have grown to 69Mt in 2024 from 66.5Mt in 2023.

The three main cement companies - Votorantim Cimentos, InterCement and CSN - each reported domestic earnings growth in 2024. In Votorantim’s case net revenue in Brazil was flat in 2024 at US$1.39bn but its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 4% year-on-year to US$390m supported by higher prices, volumes and lower costs. InterCement has been in a debt resolution process since December 2024, which will be discussed below. Its sales volumes of cement were flat at 8.6Mt and sales revenue fell by 6.6% to US$557m. Yet, adjusted EBITDA rose by 10.2% to US$135m. CSN’s sales volumes of cement increased by 5.9% to 13.5Mt and its cement business sales revenue by 5.7% to US$810m. However, its adjusted EBITDA zoomed ahead by 39.5% to US$231m. The group attributed its higher sales volumes of cement to its strategy of focusing on logistics and distribution centres to target new markets, build market share and boost synergies.

As covered by Global Cement Weekly previously, InterCement has been trying to sell assets since at least the early 2010s. High debt levels have been a problem more recently and the company entered into judicial recovery, a court-led debt recovery process, in December 2024. How this process plays out should inform the nature of any subsequent divestment of assets. InterCement attempted to sell its subsidiary in Argentina, Loma Nega, to CSN in 2024. Unfortunately, this reportedly failed due to the appreciation of Loma Negra and due to disagreements between bondholders and shareholders of parent company Mover, according to the Valor Econômico newspaper. At home in Brazil, Buzzi, CSN, Huaxin Cement, Polimix, Vicat and Votorantim have all been linked to a potential sale of InterCement assets in a piecemeal fashion. Votorantim, in particular, is expected to face opposition from the local competition regulator CADE if it attempted to buy all of InterCement’s cement plants.

It’s positive to see the cement industry in Brazil starting to reach the sales levels last recorded in 2014. SNIC, understandably, isn't taking anything for granted. It’s warned of more modest growth in 2025, compared to the strong opening quarter, with levels forecast to be somewhere between 1 - 1.5%. It says that this will depend on the “evolution of the economy, monetary policy and investments in infrastructure and housing.” It has also warned of “uncertainties arising from the US.” The other big ‘if’ is whether InterCement can actually start selling cement plants in 2025. Time will tell.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has blamed falling sales and earnings in 2024 on a contracting local market and increased competition. The group’s revenue fell by 6% year-on-year to US$420m in 2024 from US$449m in 2023. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 30% to US$63.9m from US$90.5m. It noted that, despite this, it managed to maintain a positive profit before tax due to lowered operating and financing costs.

Its sales volumes decreased by 6% to 38.3Mt from 40.6Mt. The group attributed a fall in demand for bagged cement nationally as a contributing factor to lowered local demand. A slowdown in several infrastructure projects, including the Nusantara Capital City, in late 2024 further added to this trend. Export sales also declined.

Belarus: Belarusian Cement Plant made a net loss of US$13.8m in 2024, according to the company’s annual report. This was a 13% increase in its loss compared to 2023. The company’s revenues reached US$163m, an 18% year-on-year rise. The company is over 99% state-owned.