Bosnia: TCK expects flat output

Bosnia's Tvornica Cementa Kakanj (TCK), part of the HeidelbergCement Group, sees its cement output flat this year after producing 420,000t in 2014, the company's director said.

“Our cement production fell by around 10 per cent in 2014, which was probably the most difficult year since the war for the Bosnian economy and its citizens as the country went through political turmoil in February followed by record floods in May and in August and elections in October,” Branimir Muidza told SeeNews .

Torrential rains in May 2014 caused landslides and flooding, resulting in considerable damage, which is expected to slow economic growth going forward.

TCK's total revenues are projected to stagnate in 2015, given that in the first quarter of the year there will be no major infrastructure works and those are expected to resume mainly in the second half of the year, the official said.

The company's business outlook for this year is conditioned on a number of factors, including low purchasing power of the population, a decline in personal consumption of building materials, job insecurity and the expected dynamics and intensity of planned public infrastructure works, among others.

TCK operates the 0.8Mta Kakanj cement works and two terminals at Sarajevo (bagged cement) and Banja Luka (bagged and bulk cement) as well as four ready-mix concrete plants.

In 1H14, TCK saw its operating profit fall by 1.5 per cent to BAM31.9m while net profit rose 6.25 per cent to BAM8.5m. The company's operating income in 2013 advanced by eight per cent to BAM71.9m. Net profit doubled to BAM18.2m in 2013 from BAM9.4m a year earlier.