Magnesita records profits of US$40.1m Jan-Sep 2016

Magnesita Refractários recorded a profit of US$40.1m between January and September 2016. The refractory company's EBITDA was US$115.9m in the period, while the EBITDA margin reached 16 per cent, against 15.6 per cent in the same period of 2015. Net revenue reached US$725m in the year.

Magnesita International Chairman and CEO, Octavio Pereira Lopes, highlighted the results achieved in the face of the challenging environment in the company's main markets. "The EBITDA margin rose to 16 per cent in 9M16, compared to 15.6 per cent in the same period of 2015, even as sales volume fell 7.6 per cent. This result reflects the impact of our productivity improvement, fixed costs and procurement initiatives, as well as the focus on markets with sustainable margins. Sales to the industrial sector in new geographies grew 35 per cent this year, more than offsetting weak sales performance in established markets."

In October the company announced the combination of operations with Austrian RHI to create a leading refractory company. "This is a big step for our company, accelerating our growth and opening up many new opportunities. The two companies are highly complementary and this combination will bring strong benefits to our customers, employees, shareholders and business partners. We expect this combination to be completed in 2017," said Mr Lopes.