Caribbean Cement shows pandemic weakness
CARIBBEAN CEMENT Company Limited, the maker of Carib Cement, released earnings that showed the first signs of weakness since the onset of the pandemic last year March.
The company, however, stated that the outlook remains strong ahead of its plant expansion. During the quarter, July-September, Caribbean Cement earned less revenue and profit when compared to a year earlier.
“This reduction in the revenue was a result of the lower sales, due to the heavy rainfall and harsh weather conditions experienced during the quarter, in conjunction with the lower production of cement and clinker due to the planned equipment maintenance exercise carried out in the quarter,” stated the company.
It added that during the quarter, it executed the annual general maintenance of the plant. Revenue totalled $5.5 billion,
compared to $5.8 billion a year earlier. The profit was $43.7 million, compared to $1.23 billion a year earlier. The earnings per share totalled $0.05, compared to $1.44 a year earlier.
Group total assets equated to $26.7 billion compared to $26.4 billion a year earlier. Total shareholders’ equity was $14.8 billion, compared to $10.58 billion a year earlier.
Caribbean Cement continues to demonstrate its resilience and remains resolute in achieving major goals.
“Despite the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, and especially the third wave affecting the country, the company is committed to ensuring that critical programmes in key areas such as health and safety, talent development, customer service, and community partnerships remain robust,” stated Caribbean Cement in its financials.
Caribbean Cement added that nearly half of its staff received the vaccination.
“Regarding vaccination, the availability of various vaccine types and sites has also enabled us to bolster our health and safety programme. As a participant in the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative, over 45 per cent of our staff are vaccinated, with ongoing initiatives to further increase that amount,” stated the company.
The company also continues with an aggressive US dollar debt-repayment policy, which has allowed it to reduce the financial expenses by $61 million and the company’s foreign exchange risk, relative to the corresponding quarter in 2020.
Over nine-months, revenue totalled $17.8 billion, or 18 per cent more than a year earlier.
In relation to cash flow, the company generated net cash from operations of $274 million for the quarter ,compared to $2.56 billion a year earlier. This signals that the operations generated less cash from core activities. Over nine months, the group used its cash to reduce its debt by $3.9 billion, which resulted in a final cash balance of $190.6 million, down from $374 million a year earlier.
In terms of the outlook for the fourth quarter, the company expects domestic cement demand to remain high. Also, next year it will embark on its $4.6-billion plant upgrade to keep pace with rising demand over the medium term. The expansion will increase cement production by 30 per cent.
“This expansion will allow us to move from producing 1.0 million tonnes to close to 1.4 million metric tonnes a year to properly support the strong local demand, which is expected to be driven by both government-initiated infrastructure projects and private development initiatives. It will also put us in a better position to export to markets in the region, providing them with our high-quality products,” stated the company.