Eagle Materials finished a poor year on a weak note
Including its share of the jointly-owned Texas Lehigh Cement, the turnover of Eagle Materials for the financial year to the end of March fell by double digits for the third year in a row and was down by 23.6% to US$533.3m. Of the total turnover, cement accounted for 42.0%, plasterboard for 39.5%, plasterboard liner for 10.1% and aggregates & concrete for 8.4%. The trading profit declined by 29.1% to US$76.6m, but corporate expenses were reduced by just 6.0% and interest charges were down by 25.8% to US$21.5m to give a pre-tax profit 36.8% lower at US$39.3m. The net attributable profit fell by 30.7% to US$29m. Net debt was reduced by 19.5% to US$369.5m to give a year-end gearing of 83.0%.
The cement turnover was down by 20.8% to US$224.0m, of which the wholly owned operations registered a 15.3% reduction to US$158.6m, while Eagle Material’s share of the Texas joint venture with HeidelbergCement suffered a 31.6% drop to US$65.4m. A 32.4% reduction in the trading profit to US$55.5m comes from a 36.9% drop in the wholly-owned operations to US$31.3m and more modest 25.5% reduction in the contribution from associates although the drop in revenue was greater here. Cement deliveries declined by 12.7% to 2.24Mt (2.47Mst), made up of a 5.6% volume reduction in the subsidiaries to 1.59m tonnes (1.75Mst) and a 26.2% drop to 0.65Mt (0.71Mst) in the Texas joint venture. Eagle Material’s average cement price over the period was 10.9% lower at US$94.35/t (US$85.59/st), with prices in the final quarter being down by 11.6% to $90.65 per tonne (US$82.15/st). Published under Cement News
