Cementir's ready-mixed concrete volumes weaken

Cementir's turnover for the first nine months of the year was up by 4.9 per cent to €730.9m. EBITDA, which weakened by 11.9 per cent in the third quarter, was ahead by a modest 3.5 per cent to €94.9m. This reflected higher energy costs, particularly in the case of electricity, and increased staffing levels was a result of the expansion into waste management. The trading profit advanced by 4.7 per cent to €30.6m. 

The net financial charge declined by 37.4 per cent to €13.9m to give a more than doubled pre-tax profit of €16.7m compared with just €6.7m a year ago. Net debt at the end of September was 14.7 per cent higher at €409.4m as a result of higher working capital and investments in waste management in Turkey and England. 

The trading performance was good in the Nordic area with better volumes and prices, including exports, leading to a €16m increase in turnover.  Higher sales volumes and prices boosted turnover by €10m in China and Malaysia and by €7m in Egypt, where higher exports of white cement more than offset the weakness in the domestic market. Both Italy and Turkey were hit by poor weather in the first half, but Turkey did start to recover in the third quarter. In Italy, volumes were down by 20 per cent in response to the weakness in the construction industry.

The grey and white cement volume declined by 7.1 per cent to 7.35Mt. The aggregates tonnage was off by 2.9 per cent to 2.7Mt while deliveries of ready-mixed concrete came off by 7.8 per cent to 2.64Mm³. The workforce of 3385 was 4.4 per cent higher than a year earlier as a result of the expansion into waste management.