China Resources Cement sees profits fall by 99%

China Resources Cement (CRC) has seen profits attributable to owners fall by 99 per cent to HKD6.6m (US$850,000) for the first three months of 2016 as compared to the same period in 2015. The firm's revenues fell by 24 per cent to HKD4.7bn (US$610m) in 1Q2016.

The company was hit hard by falling prices: sales volumes rose from 15Mt in 2015 to 15.8Mt, but average prices fell by 27 per cent to HKD232.8/t (US$30/t).

Sales volumes fell 14 per cent to 5.6Mt in Guangdong – CRC’s biggest provincial market in 2015 and 2016 – but grew 32 per cent in neighbouring Guangxi, expanding to 5.4Mt. Volumes also rose strongly in Guizhou (up 43 per cent to 0.45Mt) and Yunnan (up 34 per cent to 1.4Mt).

Prices fell in each of the seven provinces in which CRC operates, with Guangdong and Guangxi seeing the biggest declines with drops of 29 per cent.

The fall in profits in 1Q2016 represents a continuation of 2015’s trend, which saw the firm’s YoY profits sink by 76 per cent on 2014 levels.