Italcementi: Egypt growth insufficient to cover reductions elsewhere
Italcementi turnover for the first nine months declined by 12.9% to €3,847.5m and the running EBITDA was down by 13.1% to €787.7m.
The trading profit fell by 29.9% to €405.2m and the net attributable profit by 47.7% to €103.5m, with minority interests claiming more than this with €117.9m, largely because of the structure relating to the highly profitable Egyptian business.
The net debt at the end of September was marginally lower than a year earlier at €2,553.6m, giving a gearing level of 55.0%. Capital expenditure amounted to €576.1m, with the largest investments taking place in Morocco, the USA, India and Italy.
Cement and clinker deliveries were 12.7% lower at 42.2Mt. Shipments of aggregates declined by 19.7% to 29.7Mt and the ready-mixed concrete volume fell by 21.6% to 8.4Mm³.
Turnover in cement held up better than in the downstream businesses, with a reduction of 11.2% in cement comparing with a fall of 17.7% in aggregates and concrete.
In Egypt, now the group’s biggest cement market by volume, the growth in cement deliveries was limited by capacity constraints, but still increased by 6.4%. The performance in the two other major markets, France and Italy was down by 15.8% and 20.4% respectively.
Published under Cement News
