CEMEX’S net income grows 41% in Q2 2017

Mexican building materials giant 643 CEMEX saw its year-on-year net income grow 41% in Q2 2017 to US$289 million. The company’s $626 million net income for the first six months of 2017 was also its highest first half-year net income since 2008.

CEMEX’s consolidated net sales reached $3.6 billion during the second quarter of 2017, a like-for-like increase of 2%. This was said to be due to higher prices of CEMEX products in its native Mexican market and the US, and higher sales in Europe. CEMEX operating EBITDA decreased by 8% during the quarter to $696 million, versus the same period in 2016.

Fernando A. Gonzalez, CEMEX chief executive officer, said: “Our second quarter operating and financial performance was essentially in line with our expectations as of the first quarter: good results in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe; increasing challenges in Colombia and Egypt, and to a much lesser extent the Philippines. In addition, we continue to further strengthen our balance sheet where the financial markets have allowed us to execute on our targets a bit faster than we anticipated earlier in the year.

“Regarding our debt, we are pleased to see our discipline and consistency in reducing our leverage continues to translate into an improvement in our credit ratings. During the quarter, S&P placed our BB-minus credit rating on positive credit watch. In line with our targets, we applied the proceeds from our free cash flow generation and asset sales mainly for debt reduction. Our total debt declined by U.S.$676 million during the quarter and by U.S.$3.4 billion since the end of 2015.

“As we announced last week, we entered into a new facilities agreement for U.S.$4.05 billion under enhanced conditions reflecting our improved credit profile, extending the average life and reducing the cost of debt.”