The rising profitability in Egypt, South Africa and Brazil was sufficient to make up for reductions in Spain, Turkey and Portugal and the EBITDA improved by 6.8% to EUR298m. Margins improved thanks to the strength in come high margin countries and lower downstream sales. After a 16.1% rise in depreciation and provisions charges, the trading profit (EBIT) was just 2.4% ahead at EUR196.5m. A reduction in financial losses, however, led to a 50.4% rise in the pre-tax profit to EUR148.1m. The non-recurrence of tax credits left the net attributable profit unchanged at EUR107.1m. The net debt at the end of June was 8.3% higher at EUR1.867.0m, giving a gearing level of 109.0% compared with 100.1% a year earlier. Capital expenditure in the period amounted to some EUR143m, primarily on additional production facilities in Turkey, China, Brazil, Morocco and Mozambique.
Consolidated cement deliveries increased by 2.5% to 13.51Mt, with lower Portuguese shipments being offset by strong growth from Egypt and China. The turnover from international trading and shipping fell by 55.5% to EUR28.7m, but the profit contribution was only 2.5% lower at EUR3m. Group sales of aggregates fell by 10.3% to 6.85Mt.
Cement and clinker production in Portugal dropped by 30.0% to 2.02Mt, with both export shipments and domestic deliveries showing material reductions. The Portuguese turnover fell by 18.8% to EUR224.3m but the EBITDA held up relatively well by being off by just 7.1% to EUR75.9m. The underlying drop in Spain was much sharper, but the initial consolidation of the former Cemex business in the Canary Islands turned an underlying drop approaching 40% into a quite modest reduction of 4.6% to 1.55Mt. The Spanish turnover was off by 13.8% to EUR161.5m and the EBITDA dropped by 52.7% to EUR22.0m as cement prices declined in response to the excess supply.
Egyptian cement shipments rose by 25.9% to 2.03m tonnes, thereby overtaking both Portugal and Spain in terms of production, benefiting from last year’s modernisation and strong demand. Turnover advanced by 63.0% to EUR121.4m and the EBITDA rose by 63.5% to EUR54.3m. Margins were maintained in spite of higher production costs and, at 44.7%, were the second highest in the group. In Morocco, cement deliveries were 1.4% higher at 0.60Mt, with the turnover being 8.9% ahead at EUR49.0m but the EBITDA emerged 5.2% lower at EUR20.5m. Tunisia also experienced a narrowing of margins, with the turnover rising by 10.2% to 37.0m but the EBITDA declined by 5.9% to EUR8.8m, with cement shipments advancing by 2.8% to 0.85Mt. The Turkish cement market continues to suffer badly from excess capacity and deteriorating prices, with cement and clinker sales falling by 16.1% to 0.95Mt, resulting in a 39.0% reduction in turnover to EUR46.7m and the EBITDA dropping by 49.5% to EUR4.5m.
