Votorantim Cimentos has reported a 123 per cent growth in net profit in 2023 to BRL2.6bn (US$522.7m), from BRL1.2bn in 2022. The company’s consolidated global net revenue was BRL27.7bn, increasing three per cent YoY from BRL30bn in 2022. This growth in revenue was due to advantageous market dynamics in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In Brazil, where the company is based, total sales amounted to 37Mta, increasing marginally from 2022.

Global CEO of Votorantim Cimentos, Osvaldo Ayres, said that, “The company ended the year with strong results, driven by geographic diversification, growth in new businesses and the capture of synergies from acquisitions made in recent years. We also advanced our investments in competitiveness, decarbonisation and new businesses, maintaining focus on our strategic mandate, financial discipline and market position.” 

In 2023 the company’s adjusted EBITDA hit a record BRL5.8bn, showing an 18 per cent increase YoY. This was due to cost reductions and margin management as well as the company’s recent acquisitions. As a result, EBITDA margin in 2023 was 22 per cent, showing an increase of three percentage points from 2022.

Votorantim’s leverage (net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio) in 2023 was 1.28x, down 0.27x compared to 2022. The company’s cash balance and financial investments totalled BRL5.9bn. Bianca Nasser, global CFO, said, “Our leverage ratio went down during the year, in line with better operating results and lower net debt in the period, reaching the company’s historical low. In 2023, we obtained registration as a Category A Publicly-Held Company with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM, in Portuguese), another step in the evolution of our corporate governance. This move expanded access to the fixed income market in Brazil, in line with our strategy to diversify our funding sources and investor base. We had solid liquidity throughout the year and also maintained our investment grade rating by the main rating agencies.”

Votorantim’s capital expenditure (on expansions, modernisation and business support) totalled BRL2.4bn in 2023, an 18 per cent increase on 2022. 

Regional results
In Brazil the company’s net revenue in 2023 was BRL12.8bn, which was just one per cent higher than the net revenue in 2022. This came despite a 1.7 per cent contraction in the Brazilian cement sector in 2023, according to SNIC, the National Cement Industry Association. Adjusted EBITDA in Brazil was BRL2.5bn, increasing just one per cent from 2022. A total of 17 per cent of the company’s total adjusted EBITDA in the region came from new business.

In North America net revenue totalled BRL7.8bn in 2023, increasing five per cent from BRL7.4 in 2022. The region generated an adjusted EBITDA of BRL1.9bn in 2023, which rose 23 per cent from BRL1.5bn the previous year. 

In Europe, Asia and Africa, net revenues increased 26 per cent to BRL4.3bn in 2023, up from BRL3.4bn. Adjusted EBITDA for the region was BRL1.1bn, growing 66 per cent, due to price management, positive market conditions and synergy from acquisitions. 

Continued investment
In addition to positive financial performance in 2023, the company built the Ventos do Piauí wind farm, in partnership with Auren, the Brazil-based energy company. The project will add 55MW to the company’s installed energy generation capacity in the country and increasing the share of renewable energy in its energy matrix to 49 per cent.

This January Votorantim Cimentos announced an investment of BRL5bn in a growth and structural competitiveness programme involving its Brazilian operations. A total of BRL1.5bn of this has already been invested as part of the programme, which includes structural investments in company operations in all regions of the country, to increase competitiveness and co-processing capacity and significantly reduce CO2 emissions.