Displaying items by tag: Results
India: Jaiprakash Associates' profit after tax fell by 18.7% year-on-year to US$17.1m in the quarter that ended in March 2014 on account of higher interest costs and lower revenues.
Net sales declined by 11.9% to US$578m during the January - March 2014 quarter, down from US$657m in the same quarter of 2013. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 2.3% year-on-year to US$148m. Interest costs for the quarter jumped by 38% year-on-year to US$128m, while cost overheads such as direct construction costs fell by 25% and other expenditures fell by 11%. Revenue from its cement division, which contributes 45% to the company's total revenue, increased by 0.5% year-on-year to US$280m. However, earnings before interest and cost margin plunged by 700 basis points to 6.7%.
HeidelbergCement India’s net profit rises
27 May 2014India: HeidelbergCement India's net profits rose to US$8.12m during the quarter that ended in March 2014, compared with US$373,296 of profit during the same period of 2013. Net sales were US$67.0m during the quarter, up by 7.6% year-on-year from US$62.3m.
India Cements slips into the red
27 May 2014India: India Cements has incurred a net loss of US$5.19m for the quarter that ended in March 2014, driven by capacity overhang and weak demand. The company had earned a net profit of US$6.86m in the same period of 2013.
Net sales fell to US$183m from US$202m during the same period of 2013, while expenses dipped marginally to US$183m."Oversupply pressure continues, coupled with poor demand in south India," said India Cement's managing director N Srinivasan. Cement demand in south India was flat during the period. Consequently the company ran its southern cement plants at 70% of their rated capacity. Its Rajasthan plant produced cement at 98% of its rated capacity.
The company has been under a corporate debt-restructuring (CDR) scheme since January 2003, which ended in March 2014 with a US$9.69m charge. India Cements also incurred a US$7.97m loss due to foreign exchange fluctuations.
"With a new government in place we expect a turnaround in demand in the second half of this fiscal year," Srinivasan said.
India: Reliance Cement Company, part of the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Infrastructure, is looking at a turnover of around US$341m in the current fiscal year on the back of capacity expansion and entry into West Bengal. The company has made a foray into West Bengal, a market with 14Mt/yr of cement demand and the potential to grow by 8%/yr in the coming years.
"We are targeting cement sales of 3.5Mt and a revenue of US$307 - 341m in fiscal 2015," said Reliance Cement Director & CMO Atul Desai. "We hope to cover the entire West Bengal market in fiscal 2015, which is expanding by 8%/yr. We expect to sell 0.6 - 0.7Mt of cement in the state in fiscal 2015."
"West Bengal is one of the largest cement-consuming states in eastern India with a total consumption of around 14Mt/yr," said Reliance Cement Head (East) Deepak Ranjan. He added that Reliance Cement hopes to garner a healthy market share in the region.
Reliance Cement also plans to set up a 2.1Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Raghunathpur, West Bengal. Desai said that the company has 0.40km2 of land and is in the process of getting regulatory clearances for the project.
Reliance Cement has also lined up cement plants in various locations to increase capacity and is in various stages of acquiring limestone mining leases. "The group aims to expand its cement production capacity to 50Mt/yr over the next couple of years," he said.
EAPCC expects sharp drop in full-year profit
21 May 2014Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) expects its profit for the financial year that ends in June 2014 to drop by at least 25% compared to the preceding year's performance, in which it made US$19.3m in profit. The company has issued a profit warning, attributing the expected dip in profit to reduced sales and rising costs.
"It is projected that the profit for the 2013 - 2014 financial year will fall by more than 25% compared with the 2012 - 2013 year," the company said. EAPCC also attributed the outlook to reduced export sales and loss of market share in Kenya.
While EAPCC's sales have declined significantly, it has maintained fixed costs, including salaries, at a high level to maintain operations. This implies reduced margins, with the firm having already posted a weaker performance in the first six months of its 2013 – 2014 financial year, which ended in December 2013. Its net profit during the period fell by 43.9% to US$2.09m, weighed by higher costs and flat sales of US$51.2m.
Analysts at the Standard Investment Bank (SIB) said EAPCC has been hit by inefficiencies and perennial business disruptions brought by shareholder disputes. The government, which has a 52.3% stake in EAPCC and Lafarge, which owns a 41.4% stake, have in recent months fought to control the cement firm. The latest battle has seen the government report Lafarge to the Competition Authority for its cross ownership in EAPCC and its rival, Bamburi Cement.
South Africa: PPC has announced that in the first-half of its 2014 financial year, which ended in March 2014, its profit grew by 52% as the company consolidated its foreign units and increased its exports to counteract declining domestic sales.
Net income for the six months grew to US$47.2m from US$31.1m for the same period in 2013. Operating earnings before a number of one-time items rose by 3% to US$84.6m, while sales grew by 9% to US$398m.
Cement sales in South Africa were negatively impacted by a platinum mining strike and heavy rains during the period. Sales volumes in the north west of the country, where many of the platinum mines are located, fell by 25% in the first six months of PPC's reporting period and are not expected to recover in the near future.
"Improvements in export sales and the consolidation of sales from our Rwanda operation and newly-acquired Safika Cement business were partly offset by declining sales volumes in South Africa and Botswana," said chief executive Ketso Gordhan. PPC said that it remains optimistic that cement sales volumes will improve.
To combat a slow domestic market, PPC is expanding across Africa, including in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR), Zimbabwe, Algeria and Mozambique, to boost foreign sales to 40% by 2017.
PPC said that Zimbabwe's economic slowdown had caused 'in-country liquidity constraints,' resulting in a fall in cement demand. Despite the slowdown, analysts have said that the country's infrastructural deficit presents immense opportunities for cement makers. PPC is investing US$12.4m to expand its cement plant in the country and plans to construct a 0.70Mt/yr cement plant under its subsidiary, PPC Zimbabwe. PPC also plans to retire two 'less-efficient' mills at its Bulawayo plant. "The new mill in Harare gives a competitive advantage and a phased capital expenditure approach reduces risk," said Gordhan.
Gordhan said that PPC plans to construct a US$200m clinker plant on the border with Mozambique and a cement plant in Tete, Mozambique.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), PPC is investing US$280m to build a 1Mt/yr cement plant in the west of the country. The plant is currently under construction. PPC will assume 69% ownership of the plant, while the Barnet Group will own 21% and the International Finance Corporation will own 10%.
Hodna Cement Company, in which PPC has a 49% interest, plans to construct a 2Mt/yr cement plant near Sétif, Algeria to be constructed by China's Sinoma. "We are optimistic that we will be on site by the end of 2014," Gordhan said. Algerian cement demand is estimated at 22Mt/yr.
US: Eagle Materials Inc has reported financial results for fiscal year 2014, which ended on 31 March 2014. Company revenues were up by 40% year-on-year to US$898.4m and net earnings grew by 50% year-on-year to US$200m, reflecting improved sales volumes and stronger sales prices across all business lines. Annual revenue and earnings improvement also reflects the acquisition of assets, including cement plants in Missouri and Oklahoma on 30 November 2012.
Fiscal 2014 operating earnings from cement were up by 94% year-on-year to US$89.5m, while revenues from cement, including joint venture (the Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP) and intersegment sales, grew by 44% year-on-year to US$438.2m. Cement sales volumes reached a record 4.6Mt for the year.
Operating earnings from cement during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 were up by 422% year-on-year to US$12.0m. The earnings were impacted by US$4.5m associated with the annual maintenance outage at the Illinois cement plant, whereas 2013's fourth quarter cement earnings were impacted by US$14m, associated with maintenance costs at the recently acquired cement plants cement plants in Missouri and Oklahoma. Cement revenues for the quarter, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, grew by 10% year-on-year to US$81.7m. Cement sales volumes for the fourth quarter were up by 4% year-on-year at 803,000t.
Ukraine: Eurocement Ukraine finished 2013 with a loss of Euro1.31m, down from a profit of Euro2.32m in 2012. In 2013 the company saw its net revenue fall by 7.21% to Euro65.3m.
CRH expands business in Europe
08 May 2014Ireland: Ireland's CRH expects earnings to rise in 2014 after revenues grew sharply in its struggling European business in the first four months of the year.
The company said that sales rose by 10% in Europe to the end of April 2014, driven by better weather conditions and improving underlying market conditions. In the US, cold weather hit early season activity, however, stronger housing activity and a strengthening economic background saw revenues rise by 2%.
"In Europe, the good start to the year in much more favourable weather conditions is encouraging. While we continue to expect second-half performance to be ahead of 2013, we believe that the strong year-to-date rate of organic growth is likely to moderate," said CRH.
The company said that it expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the seasonally less significant first half of 2014 to rise to Euro500m from Euro400m in 2013. Earnings in the second-half of 2014 should be somewhat ahead of 2013. CRH also said that it had seen limited impact on trading to date from the political unrest in Ukraine, one of its main European markets, where cement sales volumes were up by 30%. However, the outlook remains uncertain.
After announcing a review of its portfolio in 2013, CRH said in February 2014 that it would sell 45 businesses representing 10% of net assets and would continue to keep a watch on other operations accounting for 20% of its assets. On 7 May 2014 CRH announced that it was assessing another selection of businesses that account for a further 10% of its net assets, where the returns potential was not yet clear. The review will be completed in the third quarter of 2014.
US: Vulcan Materials has reported that it made a first-quarter profit, helped by a recent asset sale and improved revenues. Vulcan reported a profit of US$54m. This compares to a loss of US$54.8m in the first quarter of 2013.
Vulcan's revenue for the quarter climbed by 6.7% year-on-year to US$574.4m. Net sales were up by 9% to US$44m and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at US$39m, compared to US$26m in the first quarter of 2013.
The latest reporting period included a gain of US$1.04/share related to the sale of the company's Florida-area cement and concrete assets in March 2014 to Colombia's Cementos Argos. Excluding that benefit and other items, the company had a first-quarter loss of US$0.28/share compared to a loss of US$0.47/share in the same period of 2013.
Don James, Chairman and CEO of Vulcan Materials said, "We continue to experience strengthening demand in each of our end markets and across most of our footprint. Our operations and sales teams continue to deliver strong incremental margins."