Q1 sales up at Cemex

Improvements in the European market have helped 643 Cemex to record a rise in sales in the first quarter of 2011 over the same period last year. The company said that higher sales figures were due to higher volumes from its Mexican, European, and South/Central America and Caribbean operations.

Cemex has reported that sales during the period were up 11% to US$3.4billion and EBITDA was also up 1% to US$519million.

Cemex executive vice president of finance and administration Fernando González said, “Despite the still lingering effects of the economic downturn in a number of our key geographies, we are encouraged by the stabilisation of important indicators in the construction materials business.

“Consolidated domestic grey cement and aggregates volumes showed growth for the first time since the first quarter of 2007. We are pleased with the trend we have seen in our quarterly sales because this is the seventh consecutive quarter of top-line recovery in our results and, as a result of our financial strategy, we have eliminated our refinancing risk until December of 2013.”