Vulcan sells more cement at lower prices
Vulcan Materials’ first half turnover declined by seven per cent to US$1,229.4m, though in the last quarter there was a 2.0% improvement. The EBITDA fell by 41.1 per cent to U$156.1m and the pre-tax loss for the period jumped from US$20.3m to US$122.4m. Capital investment was reduced by 29.9 per cent to US$42.2m. The net debt came down by 8.3 per cent to US$2,704.2m to give a gearing of 69.1 per cent.
Vulcan sold 0.38Mt (0.4Mst) of cement in the period, an increase of 32.8 per cent, with inter-group deliveries rising by 40.3% to 0.16Mt and third party sales advanced by 27.9 per cent to 0.22Mt. The average cement price, however, declined by US$88.46/t (US$80.25/st), but the turnover advanced by 11.6 per cent to US$116.5m thanks to the rise in volumes. The gross loss was reduced from US$1.8m a year ago to US$0.8m this time. As modest second half loss in currently being expected from the cement business.
Published under Cement News
