Vulcan Materials said its fourth-quarter 2014 earnings surged on continued growth in aggregates shipments and stronger average selling prices. The largest US producer of construction aggregates, based in Birmingham, Alabama, reported revenues up US$223 million (8%) to $2.994 billion for the year ending December 2014. Meanwhile, Vulcan Materials’ gross profit increased $161 million (38%) to $588 million. Other highlights for the financial year included aggregates freight-adjusted revenues increasing by $
Vulcan Materials said its fourth-quarter 2014 earnings surged on continued growth in aggregates shipments and stronger average selling prices.
The largest US producer of construction aggregates, based in Birmingham, Alabama, reported revenues up US$223 million (8%) to $2.994 billion for the year ending December 2014. Meanwhile, Vulcan Materials’ gross profit increased $161 million (38%) to $588 million. Other highlights for the financial year included aggregates freight-adjusted revenues increasing by $218 million (14%) to $1.794 billion; shipments increasing 11% or 16.5 million tonnes; and segment gross profit increasing by $131 million (32%) to $544 million.
Tom Hill, Vulcan Materials’ chief executive, said: “Our teams across the organization executed very well in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on the growing recovery in construction activity and demand for our products.
“Their efforts succeeded in converting more than 65 per cent of our incremental aggregates revenues into incremental gross profit, and in doing so, they further improved the underlying profitability of our core aggregates business. These results, continuing the pattern of strong execution on our aggregates-focused strategy throughout the year, were achieved despite price gains muted by a negative geographic and product mix.”
