Improved pricing and exports boost CCCL first half

Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCCL), the Jamaican subsidiary of Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), achieved a 28 per cent increase in revenue for the first half of the year due to improved pricing and increased exports.

Turnover rose to JMD7.25bn up from JMD5.68bn a year earlier, “driven by improved pricing and an almost doubling of aggregate clinker and cement export sales volumes,” a report by Mayberry Investments stated.

However, revenue was impacted by “general inflationary increases driven by the depreciating currency, an increase in debt servicing and the cost of the planned annual shutdown of the clinker manufacturing line for the necessary relining of the kiln. Going forward, improved operating profit is expected as no major kiln shut downs are planned for the remainder of 2014, allowing for CCCL’s clinker inventory to be restocked.

EBITDA rose to JMD303.78m in the first half of 2014 versus JMD1.01bn for the same period in 2013. Operating profit totaled JMD135.66m for the period, while for the year prior, the company had reported a total of JMD842m.

Mayberry said the company highlighted that “in comparing the results for 2014 with those for 2013 it is necessary to recognise the impact of the debt restructuring exercise that was completed in June 2013. In this regard, the results for 2013 include a JMD591m reversal of previously accrued withholding taxes, resulting in a much improved operating profit for the first six months of 2013.”