Cemex SAB will cut $700 million in costs to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn, the company said Friday, a day after posting its first quarterly net loss in a decade.
The credit crunch and the slump in the U.S. housing market prompted Cemex to slash $200 million more from operating costs than previously planned, according to Hector Medina, executive vice president of planning and finance.
"Our goal is to reduce the company’s cost structure to a level which is consistent with the decline in our markets," Medina said in a conference call.
Cemex said this week it refinanced $2.3 billion in debt due this year and in 2010, extending the maturity until February 2011.
