Holcim, said to be the world's largest cement maker by market value, says it does not expect to reach the previous year’s sales volumes of cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete in 2013. In its third-quarter result, 2013, the group says that while region Europe is expected to witness higher cement sales volumes, it is somewhat less optimistic with regard to Latin and North America and Africa Middle East. In Asia Pacific cement sales are expected to reach similar levels to previous year.
Holcim, said to be the world’s largest cement maker by market value, says it does not expect to reach the previous year’s sales volumes of cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete in 2013.
In its third-quarter result, 2013, the group says that while region Europe is expected to witness higher cement sales volumes, it is somewhat less optimistic with regard to Latin and North America and Africa Middle East. In Asia Pacific cement sales are expected to reach similar levels to previous year.
For the quarter, Holcim reported: “The global economic trend remained subdued despite significant growth in several emerging markets and improved economic data from the US. Demand for construction materials fell in key markets such as India, Mexico, Canada and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, while Europe stabilised.”
On sales volumes and price development, the company says: “Consolidated cement sales fell by 2.6% to 104.3 million tonnes. However, on a like-for-like basis there was a slight increase of 0.2% in the third-quarter. The markets with sales growth in the first nine months of the year included Ecuador, Russia, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Argentina. Sales of aggregates were down by 3.7% to 114.8 million tonnes. However, considerable progress was made in this segment by France, Switzerland, Aggregate Industries US, Bulgaria and Croatia. Sales of ready-mix concrete amounted to 29.5 million m³, a fall of 14.3%. However, in this segment Holcim’s sales did improve among others in Indonesia, Malaysia and Italy. Due mostly to the results of Aggregate Industries US and Holcim Canada, sales of asphalt declined by 3.1% to 6.4 million tonnes.
“Sales prices, which generally saw only a gradual improvement, were weighed down in the consolidated results by weaker cement prices in India and lower aggregate and ready-mix concrete prices in Australia.”
In a statement froim Holcim, the financial results show that consolidated net sales in the first nine months of 2013 fell by 6.1% to CHF 14.94 billion (€12.15 billion). Operating EBITDA came to CHF 2.95 billion, a decline of 4.1% on the previous year’s figure.
“The main reasons for this are the lower results posted by the group companies in India, Mexico, Canada and Brazil. On a like-for-like basis, however, operating EBITDA increased by 1%, and by as much as 3.6% in the third-quarter.
Consolidated operating profit decreased by 1.7% to CHF 1.80 billion. On a like-for-like basis, however, it improved by 4% percent over the first nine months of the year and by 9.6% in the third-quarter. This positive development was driven primarily by restructuring in aggregates and ready-mix concrete in particular and substantial savings in fixed and variable costs across all segments,” says Holcim.
Net income rose by 16.8% to CHF 1.28 billion, and net income attributable to shareholders of Holcim was up by 33.5% to CHF 1.04 billion. Revenue from the sale of CO2 emission certificates decreased by CHF 12 million to CHF 10 million.
