Cementir Holding reports increased sales for 1H15

Cementir Holding has announced its 1H15 for the six months ended 30 June 2015. Revenue was up by 0.6% to €475.7 million compared to €472.8 million in 1H14. This is reported to be a result of good performance of Scandinavian operations, which offset the difficulties encountered in Turkey and Egypt as well as the substantial stability of revenues in the Far East and Italy.

EBITDA saw a decrease of 6.7% to €73.1 million from €78.4 million in same half in 2014, due to lower earnings in Turkey, Egypt, and the Far East.

Net financial income reached €5.2 million – a sharp increase from negative €7.6 million in 1H14. This is a result of the revaluation of financial instruments held to hedge commodity, exchange rate and interest rate risk, by foreign exchange gains thanks to the appreciation of the major currencies against the Euro and by a falling cost of debt. Net financial debt totalled at €312 million and goup net profit totalled €23.9 million, increasing from €20.5 million in 1H14.

Significant events

The group is investing in facilities in Egypt to facilitate the use of petroleum coke as the main fuel source. This will begin in 2016 and thereby overcoming current fuel supply shortages and delivering savings.

Future outlook

The group intends to make improvements to Italian operations in 2H15 and anticipate its Scandinavian operations to carry on their positive performance.

No significant improvement forecasts in market demand have been made in Turkey, Egypt and the Far East, although operating performance is expected to improve compared to 1H15 as a result of targeted actions by management to improve industrial efficiency. The Group therefore confirms the performance and financial targets for 2015, which set EBITDA at a target of approximately €190 million and net financial debt at a target of approximately €230 million.

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/31072015/cementir-holding-reports-increased-sales-for-1h15-250/