Revenue in the heavy materials sector, which includes cement, concrete and aggregates, as well as joint venture and intersegment cement revenue, was up 9% to $303.5 million.
Eagle says heavy materials operating earnings increased 11% to $84.0 million, primarily because of improved cement sales volume and net sales prices.
Cement revenue for the quarter, including joint venture and intersegment revenue, was up 12% to $261.2 million, and operating earnings were $79.8 million, up 13%.
These increases reflect improved Cement sales volume and net sales prices, the company adds.
The average net cement sales price for the quarter increased 6% to $118.44 per tonne. Cement sales volume for the quarter was 2.0 million tonnes, up 7% versus the prior-year period.
Concrete and aggregates revenue decreased 3% to $42.4 million. Operating earnings for concrete and aggregates decreased 19% to $4.1 million.
According to Eagle, these declines primarily reflect lower concrete and aggregates sales volume and higher fuel costs, partially offset by improved pricing.
Eagle CEO Michael Haack says: “Our record results this quarter reflect both continued strength in US construction activity and excellent execution by our team as supply chain challenges continued to dominate the broader industrial marketplace. We generated strong free cash flow during the quarter, and repurchased 1.2 million shares of our common stock for a total cash return to shareholders of nearly $200 million.”
“I’m also proud to share that, during the first nine months of our fiscal year, we achieved the best safety performance in our history, demonstrating our deep commitment to our people and their well-being. During the quarter, we also continued to make strides towards our environmental stewardship goals; we are now producing and selling our eco-friendly Portland Limestone Cement from four Eagle cement facilities.”
“We continue to see positive demand trends across our geographic footprint, driven by increased residential construction activity and expanded infrastructure investment,” Haack continues.
“These trends should support growing construction activity and contribute to attractive pricing across our heavy and light materials businesses. We enter the last quarter of our fiscal year in a position of strength, with an excellent balance sheet enabling us to continue to execute on our core strategies.”
