Sales continue to grow at Cemex

Cemex continued to see sales and earnings rise as the cement producer announced an +8% growth in net sales to US$ 3.6 billion during the first quarter of 2014, compared with US$ 3.3 billion in 2013. The company attributed the growth to higher prices and currency gains, as well as higher sales volumes in general.

Operating profit increased by +3% during the quarter to US$ 535 million, up from US$ 521 million in 2013. Similarly, net operating earnings increased by +12%, to US$ 268 million from US$ 239 million in 2013.

Fernando A. González, executive vice president of finance and administration, said, “We are pleased with the growth in our operating EBITDA during the quarter, on a like-to-like basis, adjusting for the seasonal maintenance and inventory-drawdown effects, which we expect will revert throughout the rest of the year. We also saw positive dynamics in consolidated volumes and prices for our main products.”

The firm’s domestic market of Mexico saw net sales drop -6% in Q1 2014 to US$ 737 million, compared with US$ 780 million in the first quarter of 2013. Meanwhile, Cemex’s operations in the US saw net sales up +8% to US$ 792 million.

In Northern Europe, net sales increased +21% to US$ 912 million, compared with US$ 756 million in the first quarter of 2013. First-quarter net sales in the Mediterranean region were US$ 412 million, +19% higher than US$ 347 million in Q1 2013.

CEMEX’s operations in South, Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales of US$ 538 million during the first quarter of 2014, representing an increase of +8% over the same period of 2013.

Meanwhile, operations in Asia reported a +3% increase in net sales to US$ 146 million, versus the first quarter of 2013.