Eagle Materials sees record revenues

Eagle Materials Inc saw its 1QFY18-19 revenues hit record levels at US$393.8m, up eight per cent YoY. Net earnings rose 12 per cent from US$54.882m in 1QFY17-18 to US$66.339m in 1QFY18-19.

The company saw its results mainly impacted by a US$6.5m pretax increase in maintenance expenses, primarily due to the timing of the annual maintenance outage at the Fairborn cement plant, but also by a US$1.8m litigation loss at its Paperboard subsidiary and US$1.6m of start-up costs at its new frac sand plant in Illinois.

In the Heavy Materials division, which includes cement, concrete and aggregates, revenues improved slightly to US$227.3m. Operating earnings decreased 13 per cent to US$42.8m.

Cement revenue was up two per cent to US$186.8m, reflecting higher sales prices. The average net sales price for the quarter improved two per cent to US$108.69/t. Higher freight costs impacted net cement prices by approximately US$1.50/t during the quarter. Cement sales volume for the quarter was 1.5Mt, flat with the prior year.  Operating earnings from Cement for the first quarter were US$37.3, 14 per cent below the same quarter a year ago. 

Concrete and Aggregates revenue for the 1QFY18-19 was US$40.5m, a decrease of seven per cent. First-quarter operating earnings were US$5.5m million, a nine per cent decline, reflecting lower sales volumes partially offset by improved pricing.