Votorantim Cimentos ended 2020 with global net revenue of BRL16.7bn (US$2.98bn), an increase of 29 per cent compared to 2019. This result can be primarily explained by the increase in sales volume in Brazil, Canada and the USA, and by the positive impact of the devaluation of the real on the results of the other regions.
Consolidated adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was BRL3.8bn, an increase of 43 per cent over the previous year, with an EBITDA margin of 22.9 per cent, an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared to 2019. At the end of 2020, the company’s leverage (net debt/EBITDA ratio) was 1.96x, the best result in the last decade.
In 2020 the company sold 32.4Mt of cement in the countries where it operates (Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, USA and Uruguay), an eight per cent increase in comparison to the volume sold in 2019.
"Last year was extremely challenging due to the pandemic and its impact around the world. We implemented a contingency plan to protect people’s lives and preserve our operations. This enabled us to respond quickly both in Brazil and in the other markets where we operate, and end the year with higher sales, increased cash generation and the lowest leverage in the last ten years," said Osvaldo Ayres Filho, global CFO, Votorantim Cimentos.
The company's net income for the year was BRL437.5m, a 20 per cent drop in comparison to the previous year. This can be explained primarily by non-recurring gains in 2019 caused by the exclusion of ICMS from the PIS/COFINS calculation base and the impairment of operations in Turkey and Bolivia, with no cash effect, carried out in 2020.
