Cimpor's 1H14 cement sales rise by 10.8%

Cimpor's first-half turnover showed a 4.4 per cent decline to EUR1243.1m, but at constant exchange rates there was a 22 per cent increase, while the EBITDA did improve by 1.6 per cent to EUR288.7m in spite of negative currency movements amounting to 37 per cent in the case of Argentina, 17 per cent for South Africa and 15 per cent for Brazil.

The trading profit increased by 11.6 per cent to EUR197.3m and after a 22.6 per cent decline in the net financial charge to EUR176.5m led to a pre-tax profit of EUR20.8m compared with a loss of EUR51.1m. There was a net attributable profit of EUR2.2m, compared with a loss of EUR83.6m.

Net debt at the end of June was 5.2 per cent lower than a year earlier at EUR3561m, giving a gearing level of 55.4 per cent in line with the 55.2 per cent a year earlier.

Performance by region
Group cement deliveries increased by 10.8 per cent to 14.92Mt, with strong increased in Egypt, South Africa and Paraguay offsetting a modest decline in Argentina.

Brazil remains by far the largest contributor accounting for 41.8 per cent of the group total. Cement shipments here advanced by 5.8 per cent to 6.24m tonnes as capacity and utilisation was improved at some works. The turnover reflected the fall in the value of the Brazilian currency and declined by 8.5 per cent to EUR565.1m and the EBITDA fell by 23.9 per cent EUR145.1m, in part reflecting increased logistical costs as more cement was sold further away from the works and the operating margin declined from 30.9 per cent to 25.7 per cent.

In Argentina, volumes decreased by 3.6 per cent to 2.88Mt after the record level seen last year and volumes remained high thanks to real estate investments, but public sector spending continued to drop and the turnover came down by 19.3 per cent to EUR238.6m. In Paraguay the cement tonnage rose by 23.8 per cent to 0.17m tonnes and the turnover advanced by 9.7 per cent to EUR21.8m. EBITDA from Argentina and Paraguay rose by 18.2 per cent to EUR54m, giving an operating margin of 20.7 per cent.

Portugal, which also includes Cape Verde Islands, continues to be dominated by cement exports from Portugal, saw cement shipments rise by 19.5 per cent to 2.34m tonnes. Turnover was just 1.5 per cent ahead at EUR140.9m and the EBITDA went from a EUR 1.8m toss to a profit of EUR9.3m. Domestic deliveries in Portugal continued to decline, while there was an improvement in the much smaller Cape Verde Islands market.

Egyptian cement deliveries showed a 29.5 per cent recovery to 2.09Mt and the turnover advanced by 41.5 per cent to EUR132.2m and the second quarter EBITDA was the best on record, helped by good stock management and improved industrial performance.

In South Africa, the tonnage rose by 23.5 per cent to 0.71Mt as the customer base was widened, but the turnover was off by 2.6 per cent to EUR57.6m as competitive pressures increased though efficiency was increased. The cement deliveries in Mozambique increased by 17.3 per cent to 0.65Mt in spite of strong import pressure while turnover eased by 1.4 per cent to EUR62.4m. The overall African EBITDA advanced by 23.4 per cent to EUR70.9m, thanks to a 43.8 per cent rise in the second quarter.