Mexican cement maker Cemex's Q1 profit climbs despite dip in volumes
Corrects to read 'Semirara', paragraph 5
By Kylie Madry and Natalia Siniawski
MEXICO CITY, April 25 (Reuters) -Mexican cement maker Cemex CEMEXCPO.MX reported a 13% increase in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, bolstered by lower taxes and less exposure to financial derivatives, although its operating earnings declined.
The firm, one of the world's largest cement producers, posted a net profit of $254.4 million, beating analysts' estimate of $218.2 million as per LSEG data.
Revenue inched up 3% year-over-year to $4.14 billion, just shy of analysts' estimate of $4.19 billion, despite volumes falling in all of its product segments.
On a like-to-like basis, revenue was stable from the year-ago quarter, Cemex said.
Cemex Asia is divesting its Philippine operations, including full equity in Cemex Asian South East Corporation and subsidiaries APO Cement and Solid Cement, to DACON, DMCI Holdings, and Semirara Mining & Power for $660 million, minus debt, and a 10.14% stake in CHP.
The transaction also includes a 40% indirect equity interest in APO Land & Quarry and Island Quarry and Aggregates, with a purchase price payable to Cemex equating to 40% of a total enterprise value of $140 million.
The firm said year-over-year it spent 63% less on financial instruments such as derivatives and 66% less in taxes in the quarter, though it was dinged by higher financial expenses and an around 8% appreciation in the Mexican peso from last year.
Sales in Cemex's top market Mexico rose 20% from last year, with all of its product segments registering growth, causing the firm to slightly increase its full-year outlook for cement and ready-mix volumes in the country.
The company now expects low-to-mid single digit percentage volume growth in the country, compared to low single-digits earlier.
In the U.S., just behind Mexico in terms of sales, revenue and volumes dipped slightly, largely due to poor weather.
Meanwhile, in Cemex's European and Middle Eastern unit, demand conditions were "a mixed bag" with volumes hit by fewer working days, bad weather and a strong performance in the year-ago quarter.
Core earnings, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the Middle East slid 35% "due to ongoing tensions" in the region, Cemex said.
The firm operates in Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Overall, the company's EBITDA rose 5% YOY to $772.4 million, falling short of the estimated $780 million according to LSEG data, due to the EMEA unit's drag on strong growth in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. Cemex also announced its 2024 capital expenditure guidance would remain unchanged at approximately $1.6 billion, with $1 billion allocated for maintenance and $0.6 billion for strategic total.
Reporting by Kylie Madry and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Varun H K and David Evans
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
