HeidelbergCement raises 3Q
HeidelbergCement, said third-quarter profit more than doubled as sales rose and cost cuts took hold.
Net income rose to EUR322m from EUR149m a year earlier, the company, based in HeidelbergCement, said in a statement today. Sales rose 13 per cent to EUR3.4bn.
“Demand for our building materials has further improved in the third quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Bernd Scheifele said in the statement. The company posted the second consecutive gain in sales today, snapping six quarters of declines before.
The group did not make a detailed outlook for the year. CEO Bernd Scheifele said only demand for building materials is increasing but there are still some uncertainties such as the unemployment rate in the United States and the austerity packages of many countries.
HeidelbergCement will complete its EUR300m cost-cutting programme in 2010 and will focus on the reduction of its debts of EUR8.6bn.
At the same time, the group will continue its investments in future growth, particularly in cement activities, in the emerging countries of Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, Scheifele said. With improved cost structures, the group expects to benefit to an above-average degree from an economic upturn in the course of 2010 and next year.
Published under Cement News
