Eagle Materials’ 1H16 profit rises by 55%

Eagle Materials' 1H16 turnover to the end of September, including its share of the Texan cement joint venture with HeidelbergCement, improved by 1.7 per cent to US$682m. The trading profit advanced by 54.5 per cent to US$166.2m. After a net interest charge that was 8.3 per cent higher at US$9.6m, the pretax profit improved by 58.7 per cent to US$156.6m. The tax charge was 64 per cent higher, leaving the net attributable profit 56.2 per cent ahead at US$105.6m.  

Turnover from cement was 6.3 per cent higher at US$303.5m. Sales by the wholly-owned operations increased by 9.9 per cent to US$251.7m while the group's share of the Texas Lehigh joint venture declined by 8.3 per cent to US$51.9m. The trading profit improved by 10.8 per cent to US$82.36m as the joint venture in Texas increased its contribution by 3.2 per cent while the wholly-owned businesses reported a 13.5 per cent improvement to US$62.2m. Group cement deliveries were 0.2 per cent ahead at 2.44Mt (2.69Mst), with the Buda joint venture's volumes growing by 2.7 per cent while the wholly-owned tonnage was 0.4 per cent lower at 2.23Mt. The average cement price improved by 2.6 per cent to US$110.83/t (US$100.27/st).

Turnover from aggregates and ready-mixed concrete increased by 13.3 per cent to US$73.3m and the trading profit rose by 46.9 per cent to US$8.497m. The aggregates tonnage rose by 37.7 per cent to 1.79Mt (1.97Mst), with the average price being 2.9 per cent higher at US$9.35/t. Ready-mixed concrete deliveries advanced by 5.1 per cent to 0.46Mm³ and the average price improved by two per cent to US$71.81/m³.   

The turnover in the plasterboard and related activities improved by 5.2 per cent to US$293.5m while the trading profit rose by 7.8 per cent to US$102.5m. Plasterboard deliveries improved by 3.4 per cent to while the average plasterboard price declined by 2.9 per cent.