Cemex

Cemex announced its 2009 results on the 27^th of January, the first major cement producer to do so.  The turnover dropped by 27.8% last year to US$14,544.2m, which represented a 19% reduction on a comparable basis.  A notable part of the sales decline can be ascribed to lower volumes and prices in the USA and in Spain.  The EBITDA fell by 34.9% to US$2,657.0m and the trading profit was halved to US$1,164.8m.  The net interest charge increased by 9.2% to US$993.6m, but a reduction in 'other' expenses enabled the pre-tax loss to be reduced by 83.3% to US$352.5m. 

Helped by the further asset disposals during the year, the net debt, on the company's definition, was reduced by 16.2% to US$15,053m, giving a gearing level of 92.7%.  The capital expenditure was 69.2% lower at US$643m.    Group cement shipments fell by 17.1% to 65.05Mt, while and sales of aggregates were down by 20.7% to 167.95Mt and ready-mixed concrete deliveries dropped by 30.2% to 53.92m m³.