However, the building materials provider said that its consolidated net sales decreased by 1% in Q3 to US$3.5bn compared with the third quarter last year. It attributed the decrease in quarterly consolidated net sales to lower volumes mainly in Mexico and the Asia, Middle East and Africa region. CEMEX added that this was partially offset by improved prices for its products, in local-currency terms in most of its regions.
Operating EBITDA decreased by 7% on a like-to-like basis during the third quarter of 2019 to US$681mn on a year-over-year basis.
CEMEX CEO Fernando Gonzalez commented: “In the third quarter, our business continued to be challenging and was negatively impacted by the weaker macroeconomic conditions in several of the markets we serve. In Mexico, we believe demand for our products is bottoming out and we are cautiously optimistic on renewed activity going forward given the expected announcement of a new infrastructure programme."
He added that EBITDA in the US improved during the quarter as a result of favourable pricing, and despite weaker volumes mainly due to weather and competitive dynamics in some of CEMEX's markets. Gonzalez added that in the Europe and AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa) regions, the company had solid growth in EBITDA and expansion in margins driven primarily by favourable pricing and its cost-reduction initiatives.
Net sales in CEME's operations in Mexico, on a like-to-like basis, decreased 12% in the third quarter of 2019 to US$716mn. Operating EBITDA, on a like-to-like basis, declined by 20% to US$240mn in the quarter, versus the same period of last year.
CEMEX’s operations in the United States reported net sales of US$1,044mn in Q3, an increase of 5% from the same period in 2018. Operating EBITDA increased by 2% to US$205mn from US$202mn in the same quarter of 2018.
CEMEX’s operations in South, Central America and the Caribbean reported net sales of US$417mn, a like-to-like decrease of 1% over the same period of 2018. Operating EBITDA, on a like-to-like basis, decreased by 6% to US$89mn, compared to Q3 2018.
In Europe, net sales for Q3 increased by 2% on a like-to-like basis to US$856mn, compared to the third quarter of 2018. Operating EBITDA was US$141mn for the quarter, 7% higher than the same period last year, on a like-to-like basis.
Operations in Asia, Middle East and Africa, on a like-to-like basis, reported a 2% decline in net sales for the third quarter of 2019, to US$365mn, versus the same quarter of 2018. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was US$59mn, 4% higher, on a like-to-like basis, than the same period last year.
