Cemex CEO vows to cut debt

Bloomberg are reporting that Cemex SAB, which teetered on the brink of default during the global financial crisis, is targeting a debt cut of as much as US$3.5 billion by the close of 2017 as it steps up a push to regain an investment-grade credit rating.

Achieving this goal would mean a 23% drop in the company’s liabilities from the end of last year. The company is also increasing its target for asset sales in the period to as much as US$2 billion even after reporting the biggest second-quarter profit since 2008.

Cemex is boosting efforts to recover an investment-grade capital structure by raising cement prices in key markets and moving ahead with asset sales such as last month’s initial public offering of its Philippines unit, which raised about US$507 million. The company also announced that it would increase free cash flow this year by as much as US$550 million compared with a previous estimate of as much as US$450 million.

Cemex lowered its total debt plus perpetual notes by 7% from a year earlier to US$14.8 billion. The company’s free cash flow for the quarter was US$422 million, the highest in a second quarter since 2006.

Edited from source by Joseph Green. Source: Bloomberg

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