HeidelbergCement reported a three per cent rise in group revenue to EUR3.6bn in the first three months of the ‘despite partly adverse market conditions,’ the company said in a statement today.

The German cement major said that excluding consolidation and exchange rate effects, revenue decreased by 1.9 per cent. While the effects from changes in the consolidation scope to the amount of EUR23m were negligible, the weakening of the euro against numerous currencies amounting to EUR162m in total had a positive impact on revenue. Compared with the previous quarter, however, exchange rate effects had considerably less impact.

Operating income before depreciation (OIBD) improved by eight per cent to EUR865m and operating income also rose by eight per cent to EUR675m. Adjusted for exchange rate and consolidation effects, operating income could be improved both before and after depreciation by three per cent, respectively. Besides the price increases in key core markets and the successful implementation of the margin improvement programmes in the aggregates business line, in particular, the low cost of fuels also made a contribution to the positive development of results.

“Despite partly adverse market conditions, the third quarter saw us continue our successful development and further increase our results,” says Chairman of the Managing Board Dr. Bernd Scheifele. “This was largely due to our advantageous geographical positioning and our overall good cost management. Consequently, we were able to considerably improve our operating margins once again. From our perspective, the weaker development of sales volumes compared with the previous quarters is temporary in nature."

Net debt at the end of the third quarter amounted to EUR5.97bn and was EUR1.6bn less than at the end of the same quarter of the previous year. The sale of the building products business, which was completed on 13 March 2015, made a major contribution to the significant reduction in debt with a cash inflow of EUR1.27bn.

Operating income before depreciation (OIBD) rose by eight per cent to EUR865n with double digit increases seen in North America, Western and Northern Europe and Africa-Mediterranean basin

Overview of regional volumes
During the quarter, the group’s cement and clinker sales volumes fell by three per cent to 21.8Mt compared to 22.5Mt a year earlier. Strong increases were seen in Africa, while in other group areas volumes remained stable or declined slightly. In Asia, the delated start up of infrastructure projects announced by the Indonesian government and a negative impact on sales volumes. Volumes fell in Eastern Europe-Central Asia area and Russia due to a downturn in investments. In the Western and Northern Europe group area, especially The Netherlands and Baltic States, sales volumes also declined. North American volumes remained largely stable despite adverse weather conditions in Texas.

Aggregate deliveries rose by one per cent to 72.6Mt, with the increase driven by contributions from the North America and Eastern Europe-Central Asia group areas. Ready-mixed concrete deliveries were down one per cent to 9.7Mm3 and asphalt sales volumes fell eight per cent YoY to 2.9Mt.

In the first nine months of 2015, cement and clinker volumes were down one per cent to 60.6Mt. Aggregate shipments rose by three per cent to 186Mt and ready-mixed concrete deliveries also rose slightly to 27.1Mm3. Asphalt sales remained stable at 6.9Mt.

Italcementi acquisition update
On the Italcementi acquisition, the group has raised its synergy target from EUR175m to EUR300m (of which EUR55m operational).