Breedon Group plc announces 2020 interim results
Published by Emily Thomas,
Deputy Editor
World Cement,
Highlights
• Encouraging performance in first 12 weeks of the year.
• COVID-19 lockdown at end of March prompted immediate fall in demand and managed shutdown of most operations.
• Early and decisive action taken to keep colleagues safe and preserve liquidity.
• Site reopenings commenced in early May as demand improved.
• Recovery led by RoI, underlining the benefit of Breedon’s geographical spread.
• June revenues recovered to 99% of June 2019.
• Strong balance sheet, with net debt reduced to £253.6 million: Leverage of 1.9x.
• Financial headroom of £344.0 million at 30 June.
• Acquisition of CEMEX assets expected to complete imminently.
• Recovery well underway and outlook remains positive.
Pat Ward, Group Chief Executive, commented: “Following the encouraging performance of our businesses in the first 12 weeks of the year, the move into lockdown and immediate fall in demand in the latter part of March led us into a swift and managed shutdown of the majority of our operations, leaving open only those which were servicing critical needs. This decisive action ensured the protection of our employees, left our sites in a safe condition and also positioned us to return quickly to production when demand began to return in early May.
“The recovery in our markets now appears to be well underway, and we have seen continued improvement into July. The great majority of our sites are now open, including both our cement plants. While near-term uncertainty remains, there is significant pent-up demand to be satisfied in both housing and infrastructure, reinforced by the substantial programme of investment confirmed by the Chancellor earlier this month. Looking to the longer-term, we believe the outlook for our markets remains positive, supporting our confidence in the prospects for the group.”
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/30072020/breedon-group-plc-announces-2020-interim-results/
You might also like
World Cement Spotlight with Innomotics
Senior Editor of World Cement, David Bizley, is joined by Sunny Schoone of Innomotics for a World Cement Spotlight Interview.