Portugal Semapa profit up 15%

Portugal's conglomerate Semapa, owner of cement maker Secil, posted on Friday a 15 per cent rise in nine-month net profit, helped by lower taxes on some of its overseas operations and a small increase in sales.

Net profit rose to EUR80m the company said in a statement. Still, EBITDA fell 4.5 per cent from a year ago to EUR98m. Total sales rose about by about one per cent to EUR1.48bn, with cement sales up four per cent.  The company attributed the growth to cement and clinker exports from Portugal and a positive contribution from the Tunisian business.

In its home market of Portugal, cement consumption was down by 8.3 per cent in the first nine months of the year, although the rate of decline has slowed. Cement turnover rose by 8.2 per cent to EUR136.3m thanks to the boost in exports which rose by 22.9 and 66.3 per cent in turnover and volume terms, respectively.  On the domestic front, turnover fell 4.2 per cent and shipments were down 8.9 per cent.

The Tunisian cement business reported a 10.1 per cent YoY in turnover to approximately EUR50.2m where the export performance was also strong. Semapa noted that the deregulation of prices, which took effect at the start of January, had a “highly positive” impact on the unit’s turnover, allowing it to compensate for a 5.3 per cent drop in sales volumes. A 53.8 per cent increase in export turnover was recorded, despite the closure of the Libyan border in the first quarter.

In Lebanon, where the economy has been affected by unrest in the Middle East, most notably Syria, cement consumption is expected to hold steady at last year’s levels, according to Semapa estimations. In the first nine month’s of the year, the company’s cement business unit reported a turnover 2.3 per to EUR62.3m, essentially due to a 6.3 per cent rise in sales volumes.
 
Lower average selling prices amid stiffer competition in Angola led to a 14.5 per cent decline in turnover to EUR15.8m. Sales volumes were practically in line with the previous year.

In Brazil, total operations by the Supremo Group generated a turnover of EUR41.8m, representing an increase of 8.9 per cent YoY. The weakness of the Brazilian real brought down the value of turnover by EUR4.3m.