Cementir Holding announces 1H19 revenues of EUR591.9m

Cementir Holding has released its results for 1H19. Revenues rose to EUR591.9m up from EUR588.5m in 1H18, while EBITDA stood at EUR110.1m, up 14 per cent compared to EUR96m in 1H18.

Group net profit reached EUR27.3m compared to EUR96m in 1H18, while net financial debt fell to EUR399.1m from EUR416m at 31 March 2019.

Regional cement and clinker results 1H19
Grey and white cement sales reached 4.321Mt in 1H19, down -12.2 per cent from 4.921Mt in 1H18. Cementir stated that the negative performance was due to sales in Turkey and this was partly offset by the favourable trend in the Nordic and Baltic region as well as in Belgium.

Grey cement volumes in Denmark rose on the back of ready-mixed concrete and prefabricated sectors, while white cement exports were inline with 1H18.

In the USA Lehigh White Cement Co had sales of white cement of 323,000t in 1H19 and sales revenues of EUR70.4m. The market was hit by unfavourable weather in Texas and New York and by competition in Texas.

In Turkey the sharp fall in construction activity led to a 37 per cent drop in revenues from cement in local currency, and a 40 per cent fall in cement and clinker sales volumes.

In Egypt domestic white cement volumes increased while average prices rose and exports increased by more than 60 per cent.

In China Cementir also an increase in white cement and clinker volumes on the domestic market and favourable price trends.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, domestic white cement volumes increased considerably compared to 1H18 and exports of cement and clinker disclosed a trend inline with 2018 with a reduction of cement sales in South Korea but higher deliveries to the Philippines, while a fall in clinker sale stop Vietnam was offset by greater deliveries to Australia.

Reay-mix concrete and aggregates 1H19
Ready-mix volumes totalled 1.998Mm³, down -21.3 per cent from 2.539Mm³ in 1H18, again with sales low in Turkey.

Meanwhile, aggregates rose to 4.97Mt up 1.8 per cent from 4.884Mt in 1H18 after strong sales in Denmark.

2Q19 results
In the 2Q19 cement and clinker volumes reached 2.5Mt, a drop of 12 per cent on 2Q18. Ready-mix concrete sales volumes totalled 1.1Mm³, down 21.6 per cent and aggregates volumes reached 2.7Mt, up one per cent.

Revenues reached EUR327.6m ion 2Q19, down 5.4 per cent compared to EUR346.1 per cent in 2Q18. Operating costs totalled EUR256.1m compared to EUR281m in 2Q18, down 8.8 per cent.

EBITDA rose in 2Q19 to EUR76.4m, up by 6.2 per cent on EUR71.9m in 2Q18. Profit before tax amounted to EUR42.3m, down from EUR86.8m in 2Q18.