Titan posts 1Q loss, sees challenging year ahead
Greece’s Titan Cement posted a first-quarter net loss as construction activity declined and the euro slumped.
Titan reported a EUR4.3m net loss compared with a year-earlier profit of EUR24.8m, the company said in a statement. Sales fell 12 per cent to EUR252.9 m. Depreciation of the euro in the first quarter resulted in a EUR14m exchange-rate loss, according to the statement.
“2011 will be another challenging year,” the company said in the statement. “In Greece, measures taken to improve public finances and the cutbacks to public investment programs are expected to lead to a further substantial decline in construction activity.”
The building recovery in the US is expected to be slow and “no significant” improvement in operating results is seen, Titan said. Egypt performed well in the first three months of the year, allowing “cautious” optimism, and Turkey’s strong economy indicates positive prospects, according to the statement. Exports to Libya, which in recent years had helped mitigate the sales drop at home, ceased after civil war broke out in the country earlier this year.
Titan expects a “negative impact” from higher energy costs, according to the statement.
Published under Cement News
