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Titan's European profitability suffers

02 August 2013, Published under Cement News

Titan's first-half turnover improved by 4.4 per cent to €571.9m but the EBITDA fell by 17.8 per cent to €92.2m as European profitability continues to suffer. The trading profit fell by 36.6 per cent to €32m, but the net financial charge, that had dropped by 54.9 per cent to €20.5m a year ago, more than doubled to €44m. As a result, there was a pre-tax loss of €12.4m compared with a profit of €29.5m and the net attributable loss amounted to €21.8m. Capital investment recovered by 5.7 p...

Holcim (New Zealand) to close Westport plant, build new import terminal

01 August 2013, Published under Cement News

Holcim (New Zealand) is to close its Westport cement plant as it looks to build a new import terminal elsewhere in the country. It has also put on hold plans for construction of a new cement plant in Oamaru. The company said in a statement that it will spend over NZD100m (US$79.5m) over the next three years to construct the terminal and associated infrastructure that will allow it to import and distribute bulk cement for supply to the New Zealand market. Announcing the decision, Holcim...

Siam Cement second-quarter net profit surges

01 August 2013, Published under Cement News

Siam Cement posted a surge in YoY net profit in the second quarter of 2013, boosted by strong earnings in its core businesses including its cement division. Thailand’s largest conglomerate doubled net profit for the April-June 2013 period to THB9.92bm (US$317m), up 132 per cent from THB4.28bn a year ago. Revenue increased six per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier to THB106.5bn. The company said it received THB2.9bn in dividend contributions from SCG Investment during the pe...

Eurocement 1H output rises 5%

31 July 2013, Published under Cement News

The cement output of Russia’s Eurocement Group increased by five per cent to 11.5Mt during January to June 2013, the company said in a statement. Cement shipments, meanwhile, rose by seven per cent during the six month period. The group plans to upgrade its production facilities to raise the share of dry-process production to 100 per cent by 2018 from the current 25 per cent. The Russian market leader plans to boost capacity by 4Mta. Last year Eurocement opened its 2Mta Podgorensky Ce...

UltraTech first quarter hit by building slowdown

30 July 2013, Published under Cement News

UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement producer, posted a 13.5 per cent YoY decline in its first quarter (April-June 2013), due to slowdown in home building and infrastructure projects. The Aditya Birla group company reported standalone profit of INR6.73bn (US$112.3m) for the April-June quarter. Net sales also declined 2.2 per cent to INR49.58bn. Going forward, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the group, said the business outlook remained challenging and the company has downwardly re...

Dangote sees 53% pretax profit rise, Nigeria

29 July 2013, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement plc announced a NGN107.7bn (US$670m) profit before tax for the first half ended 30 June 2013. According to the firm’s six-month financial result released to the NSE, the profit before tax rose by 52.8 per cent compared to NGN70.8bn recorded in the corresponding period in 2012. Gross profit also increased, by 43.8 per cent from NGN91.9bn to NGN132.1bn, while operating profit moved up from NGN76.4bn to NGN111.1bn, indicating an increase of 45.4 per cent. The company saw...

Cementir improves first-half margins

29 July 2013, Published under Cement News

Cementir's turnover improved by 2.2 per cent to EUR472.4m (US$627.6m) during first half of the year as improvements in the Far East, the Americas, Norway and Turkey more than compensated for lower volumes in Italy and Denmark. The EBITDA improved by 10.8 per cent to EUR62m while the depreciation and impairment charge was 3.5 per cent ahead at EUR44.3m, leaving the trading profit 34.8 per cent ahead at EUR17.7m. The net financial charge was reduced by 71.1 per cent to EUR2.4m, resulting in...

Lafarge trims market growth outlook, debt reduction goal on track

26 July 2013, Published under Cement News

Lafarge reported a marked rise in 2Q net profit although consolidated sales declined. The company has now trimmed its forecast for cement market growth this year but confirmed its goal to reduce debt to below EUR10bn this year.  EBITDA fell eight per cent to EUR922m and current operating income declined 11 per cent to EUR667m. Net profit in the second quarter came in at EUR201m compared to EUR39m in the same period last year when earnings were hit by exceptional items. Consolidated sal...

Cemex expects best volume growth from USA

26 July 2013, Published under Cement News

Cemex reported a slight decline in turnover for the first half of 2013, with EBITDA also down marginally but the trading profit improved by double digits. While volumes were down in the first six months, the group sees full year sales edging ahead with the USA expected to show the best advance. Cemex' first half turnover eased by 0.7 per cent to US$7322.1m and  EBITDA came off by 1.7 per cent to US$1251.2m, but the trading profit improved 13.8 per cent to US$690.2m. Net interest payment...

Pakistan export earnings rise in FY12-13

25 July 2013, Published under Cement News

In the fiscal year ending 30 June 2013, Pakistan exported 9.073Mt of cement on revenues of US$577.73m compared to 8.748Mt at US$498.84m in the corresponding period of last year. These latest figures from Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Statistics show that export volumes rose by 3.71 per cent while in dollar value terms, they were 15.81 per cent higher compared to the comparative period a year earlier. In terms of the Pakistan rupee, exports rose by 25.23 per cent to PKR55.87bn during FY13. ...