Afrimat recorded a group revenue rise of 36.7 per cent to ZAR8.3bn (US$454.6m) for the year ended 28 February 2025 from ZAR6.1bn, with the inclusion of the Lafarge business in South Africa. Operating profit decreased by 58.5 per cent from ZAR1152.4m to ZAR477.7m, resulting in an overall profit margin of 5.7 per cent. Cash generated from operations equated to ZAR571,6m compared to ZAR1 551.4m.
“While these results are not as robust as in the past, the entrepreneurial culture continues to ensure sustainability and profitability through strategic focus, careful planning, and meticulous execution,” said Group CEO, Andries van Heerden.
“Our long-term growth strategy is underpinned by a diversified asset base in the mining, quarrying, and related industries, and we continue to be renowned for acquiring distressed assets and turning them into profitable and sustainable businesses.”
He added that diversification and efficiency improvement initiatives remain the cornerstones of the group’s strategy. “Our most recent acquisition, that of Lafarge South Africa, has been integrated successfully. Being our largest acquisition to date, the transaction became unconditional during the first quarter of this financial year.”
Mr Van Heerden further explained that while the traditional aggregate quarries and ash business delivered a solid performance, the cement business incurred losses throughout the year. “Pleasingly though, these are steadily reducing as the cement operations were successfully restored and are now functioning at acceptable levels.”
Operational review
The aggregates component of the Construction Materials segment delivered a solid performance, increasing operating profit by 40.2 per cent to ZAR383.5m from ZAR273.4m in the previous year and delivering an operating profit margin of 10.8 per cent (2024: 12.4 per cent).
Mr Van Heerden said that this was mainly due to the successful integration of the Lafarge quarries, the fly ash business, and the ready-mix batching plants, as well as volume growth.
The cement business incurred losses of ZAR285.4m. “During the first half of the financial year, the operation contended with known reliability issues at the cement factory, resulting in excessive maintenance costs and limited production. Following the revitalisation of the plant, production is at acceptable, efficient, and dependable levels, but during the second half of the year, the business had to contend with unusually high rainfall, which impacted production in January and February 2025,” he reported.
He added that the cement kilns benefited from extensive maintenance and are operating more efficiently and dependably, ensuring that Afrimat can now operate with backup capacity. “Production has steadily improved, and good progress has been made towards achieving the Group’s desired market share.”
“May 2025 marks the first anniversary of the Lafarge acquisition. Over the past year, we have successfully integrated quarries, fly ash, and ready-mix batching plants, yielding excellent results. The cement operations have been restored and are now performing well, with some spare capacity available. Nonetheless, certain costs persist in the cement sector, including the ongoing transition of the ERP system from the Holcim platform,” he added.
Mr Van Heerden further commented that the priority for the Construction Materials segment is to enhance operating margins in the aggregates business through efficiency projects, eliminate losses in the cement business, and advance sales toward the group’s desired market share.
