Votorantim Cimentos reports net profits of BRL1.6bn in 2021

Votorantim Cimentos ended 2021 with net profit of BRL1.6bn (US$337m), an increase of 244 per cent compared to 2020, primarily due to better operating results with growth in sales in all regions where the company operates and gains related to the consolidation of acquisitions made in North America and Spain.

Global net revenue was BRL22.3bn, an increase of 33 per cent compared to 2020, as a result of the combination of favourable pricing dynamics, especially in Brazil and North America, strong sales volumes in all regions and the effects of the consolidation of recent acquisitions.

In 2021 the company sold 37.2Mt of cement in the countries where it has operations (Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, USA and Uruguay), an increase of 15 per cent compared to the volume sold in 2020.

“Advances in vaccination and the continuity of fiscal and monetary stimuli contributed to an improvement in the global economy last year, and the cement market remained heated in all countries where we operate. Our business strategy and recent acquisitions, combined with our resilience and operational excellence led us to achieve sales growth in all regions and to close the year with record results,” said Marcelo Castelli, global CEO of Votorantim Cimentos.

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was BRL$5.2bn in 2021, a 37 per cent growth compared to the previous year, with an EBITDA margin of 24 per cent, an increase of one percentage point over 2020. Votorantim Cimentos ended 2021 with leverage, measured by the net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio, of 1.55x, its best level in the last 10 years.

“We had record financial performance in 2021, despite the challenging environment due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic and global inflationary pressure. We made significant strategic moves, resumed the payment of dividends to our shareholders and had another consecutive drop in our leverage. Thanks to the strength of our financial metrics, we have recovered and maintained our investment grade rating by the three main rating agencies,” said Osvaldo Ayres Filho, former global CFO of Votorantim Cimentos, recently promoted to director of Cement Operations, Logistics and Adjacent Businesses.

Last year, the company’s investments in expansion, modernisation and business support (capex) totalled BRL1.5bn, a 30 per cent growth compared to 2020.