Indonesia: Holcim Indonesia reports 5.3% growth in 9M16

Publicly-listed Holcim Indonesia reported 5.3 per cent sales growth YoY to IDR6.91trn (US$530m) in the first nine months of 2016.

The company attributed the performance to a 10.4 per cent increase in its cement sales volume to 6.2Mt. Domestic sales growth stood at less than three percent, with total sales at 44.7Mt.

However, as prices remained under pressure, the company continued to note losses, albeit on a smaller scale than in 9M15. Holcim’s net losses in 9M16 fell to IDR160bn from IDR372.31bn the previous year.

Holcim Indonesia CEO, Gary Schutz, said the long-awaited upturn in government spending on infrastructure projects did not appear forthcoming as a result of fiscal constraints. "Tax collection not considering the one-off tax amnesty windfall remained very weak and far below expectations. Moreover, infrastructure represents a single figure percentage share of the total market compared to about 80 per cent of cement sales, via retailers, to serve housing and smaller scale construction projects," he said.