Cementir increased turnover by 19.6% to EUR188.6m during the first quarter of the year, which is a more pronounced movement than the 16.4% decline a year ago. The good advance in turnover in most areas was partially offset by a reduction of some 8% in Italy. EBITDA, however, did decline by 12.3% to EUR 8.5m because of higher fuel costs, reduced activity in Egypt and losses in Italy. The trading loss widened by 11.6% to EUR12.3m, but the pre-tax loss narrowed by 78.5% to €2.3m. Net debt at the end of March was 7.0% lower at EUR 359.2m.
Grey and white cement volume increased by 8.0% to 2.12Mt, thanks to higher volumes being seen in the Nordic area, Turkey and the Far East. The positive influences from Scandinavia and Turkey were more pronounced in the downstream operations, where the aggregates tonnage rose by 37.2% to 0.68Mt and ready-mixed concrete deliveries advanced by 45.8% 0.85Mm³.
