Cimpor

Helped by to a 45.0% advance in Brazil, Cimpor's nine month turnover advanced by 6.7% to €1,681.1m and the EBITDA emerged 4.0% higher at €475.1m, boosted by a €55.6m increase from Brazil. A 12.0% increase in depreciation charges and provisions lowered trading profit (EBIT) by 0.3% to €298.7m. Net financial charges were reduced by 9.8% to €48.1m, leaving the pre-tax profit 1.8% higher at €250.7m. A 20.3% rise in the tax charge left the net attributable profit down by 4.1%. Net debt at the end of September stood at €1,657.5m, giving a gearing level of 78.8%, down from 97.7% a year earlier. Capital expenditure in the period was 43.9% lower at €113.2m, while financial investments were more than doubled at €19.5m. Group cement and clinker shipments were 3.9% higher at 21.32Mt, with the biggest increases being seen in Brazil and Turkey. The profit from trading and shipping doubled to €9.6m, thanks to the sale of a ship.

The Portuguese turnover was off by 0.3% to €343.3m, and the EBITDA declined by 2.0% to €110.4m in spite of income from sale of emission rights. Cement and clinker sales increased by 13.6% to 3.61Mt thanks to higher export volumes, which more than offset the decline in domestic deliveries. In Spain, Cimpor did better than the market overall, thanks to a relatively better performance in Galicia and cement volumes declined by a mere 6.9% to 2.23Mt. The Spanish turnover came down by 15.7% to €213.2m and the results were hit additionally by higher energy costs and lower cement prices, the EBITDA fell by 32.1% to €23.6m.  

Brazil increased its lead as the group's largest cement producer as volumes grew by 19.2% to 3.96Mt. Additional capacity did help to boost volumes. Turnover in Brazil jumped by 45.0% to €445.2m and the EBITDA by 63.2% to €143.4m, helped by favourable exchange rate movements, without which the advance in EBITDA would have been limited to some 34%.

Egypt was the third biggest contributor in terms of both cement volume and EBITDA, but it lagged behind Spain in terms of turnover. The Egyptian turnover edged ahead by 0.3% to €179.3m, but cement shipments declined by 5.8% to 2.86Mt and the EBITDA came off by 11.7% to €68.7m. Moroccan cement deliveries were off by 1.4% to 0.88Mt, with the turnover improving by 1.5% to €73.1m and the EBITDA advancing by 5.7% to €33.0m and achieving the highest EBITDA margin in the group at some 49%. In Tunisia, the cement volume rose by 9.0% to 1.32Mt, with turnover advancing by 11.9% to €58.8m and the EBITDA by 22.4% to €17.9m. Turkey recovered strongly, with volumes rising by 29.8% to 2.13Mt and the EBITDA jumping by 70.8% to €17.2m on a turnover 37.9% higher at €110.5m.

In South Africa, cement shipments dropped by 19.8% to 0.89Mt, but a stronger rand and a 2.9% improvement in local currency prices reduced the reduction in turnover to just 3.5% at €111.7m, with the EBITDA falling by 13.4% to €46.1m as higher energy costs had to be absorbed. In Mozambique, the EBITDA dropped by 28.6% to €7.7m on a turnover 2.9% higher at €65.6m with cement volumes ahead by 12.3% to 0.65Mt. The business on the Cape Verde Islands saw the EBITDA fall by 17.4% to €2.9m and the turnover ease by 1.9% to €24.3m in spite of a 4.0% increase in cement shipments to 185,000 tonnes.

In China, cement deliveries rose by 7.8% to 2.92Mt and the turnover moved up by 5.5% to €66.4m. Pressures on prices have worsened with increased competition as the withdrawal of old capacity has been delayed and a €4.1m profit at the EBITDA level a year earlier was turned into a €2.4m loss this time, though a return to profit was seen in the third quarter. Indian cement deliveries suffered from a weaker local market and shipments declined by 15.7% to 0.66Mt. The turnover was off by 11.2% to 35.1m and the EBITDA dropped by 59.5% to €3.8m.

Cimpor announced towards the end of the month that it is investing €240m in Brazil by the end of 2013, increasing the capacity from 6.5Mt to 8.8Mt per annum. The largest investment, of €160m, will be in the province of Paraiba, where the group aims to build a new works with an annual capacity of 1.45Mt. A further €80m is being spent on increasing the capacity of its Cezarina works in the province of Goias to 2.1Mt per annum.