Tuesday, March 3, 2015

EGYPT: Sales improve at Suez Cement Group

Suez Cement Group of Companies (SCGC) has reported that during 2014 its sales increased 22%, while recurring EBITDA improved 8.8% compared to 2013 figures.

But, higher corporate income taxes coupled with an absence of foreign exchange gains were responsible for an 8.4% drop in net profit after non-controlling interest.

The EBITDA gains were also driven by the company's downstream activities in transportation and ready mix cements as well as SCGC's paper bags subsidiary, which saw an EBITA increase of 26.5%. Cement activities accounted for a gain of 6.3%.

The strong revenue performance was largely due to cement price increases due to an unprecedented surge in production costs and product shortages. Overall, clinker production decreased as a result of severe energy supply issues that impacted each of SCGC's plants and subsidiaries differently. The Tourah operation felt the greatest pressure from expensive clincker imports that were necessary to satisfy Egypt's growing demand.

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