Vulcan announces a rise in net sales and gross profit in 1Q14

US-based Vulcan Materials Company has announced its results for 1Q14. During this period, net sales were 9% higher than in the corresponding period in 1Q13, while gross profit grew by 93%. Adjusted EBITDA improved from US$26 million in the first three months of 2013 to US$39 million this year.

Cement, concrete and asphalt

• Gross profit from its non-aggregates businesses increased by US$3 million on last year’s results. This rise is mainly due to higher sales volumes and materials margin in Vulcan’s Asphalt Mix segment.
• The Concrete segment’s gross profit was US$1 million greater than in 1Q13.
• The sale of Vulcan’s cement and concrete operations in Florida to Colombia’s Cementos Argos was completed in March 2014. This resulted in a pre-tax gain of US$230 million and related charges of US$9 million.

Aggregates

• Gross profit for the Aggregates segment grew by 55% and revenue was up 13% on 1Q13.
• Shipments of aggregates rose by 6% overall. In areas such as Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, shipments fell year-on-year due to the extreme winter weather. However, regions like California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas saw +15% growth during the period.
• Pricing increased by 2% compared to the same period last year.

Company comment and 2014 outlook

“Although construction activity and aggregates consumption remain far below historical levels, our aggregates shipments have now increased year-over-year for four consecutive quarters. With the strength of our aggregates reserves positions, our continuing profit enhancements, the divestitures of non-strategic operations, and significant debt reduction, Vulcan remains very well positioned to grow earnings faster than sales during this period of aggregates demand recovery,” commented Don James, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

When discussing the outlook for 2014, Mr James added: “Vulcan-served markets are expected to outperform other markets, led by continued improvement in private construction activity. Leading indicators such as housing starts, non-residential contract awards and employment continue to show favourable growth trends in Vulcan-served markets. Additionally, we continue to pursue a number of large-scale transportation and industrial projects, which we are well positioned to supply. While timing can be difficult to forecast, we expect these projects to play a meaningful role in our full year volumes in 2014. Additionally, we expect any shipment delays due to severe winter weather in the first quarter to be recovered during the remainder of the year.”

Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/07052014/vulcan_releases_1q14_results_153/