Titan Cement earnings rise
Titan Cement Thursday posted a 14% rise in second-quarter net profit due to the start-up of new facilities in the eastern Mediterranean and southeastern Europe and the weakness of the euro, but it gave a bleak assessment of the markets in which it operates and said it would focus on belt-tightening for the remainder of 2010.
"Under the prevailing conditions of uncertainty in the economic environment, the group will continue in the near future to focus on reducing debt by prioritizing investments, reducing working capital and lowering costs," the company said in a statement.
For the three months to June 30, the company said net profit climbed to EUR43.5m from EUR38.1m in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 5.1% to EUR394.8m from EUR375.7m in the same period last year.
The performance was boosted by the recent start-up of a new production line in Egypt and a new plant in Albania that contributed to increasing sales and operating profit. Those gains offset the impact of the downturn in Greece. There were signs of stabilisation in its US operations.
At the same time, the depreciation of the euro had a positive impact on results, as it led to foreign-exchange gains that reduced financing costs.
EBITDA edged up 3.7% to EUR100.2m from EUR96.6m a year earlier.
Published under Cement News
